Understanding
by Shape-Shifter Gonna Eat You
Summary: The Egyption and Greek gods are meeting. Out of nowhere, two books appear. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian- And The Serpent's Shadow. They must read the book, and who knows- they might just understand each other better.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: It's the yearly meeting between the Greek and Egyption Gods. The gods can choose up to two demigods/magicians to bring. Just as they are starting the meeting, two books appear out of nowhere, and a note says they must read them.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters.**

No One's POV:

None of the gods really liked the meetings. But they had to. They had to share news of what has happened and going to happen and blah, blah, blah, blah.

Zeus stalked forward, Poseidon a little bit behind him and off the the right. The same with Hades, but off to the left.

Percy trailed after his dad. Nico was doing the same too. Athena was right behind them, with Hera right behind Zeus. Everyone else was trailing behind Athena.

No one seemed too happy, with bored expressions, angry expressions, depressed expressions, basically anything but happy.

Only the chosen demigods/magicians were excited. This being their first time and everything.

They all sat down at their thrones, and it was dead silent.

...Until Percy and Nico started whispering to each other quietly.

Carter and Sadie stared at the two demigods. Both were thinking about how their gods had said it was forbidden to go over the boudries. They now wondered if it was because it was Greek territory.

Before anyone could actually speak, a sickening **CRACK! **sounded. Smoke quickly engulfed the room. And as suddenly as it had all started, it was gone, leaving a package in the middle of the floor.

Zeus glared at Hermes.

"I thought I told you- NO PACKAGES!"

"It's not for me. I didn't do anything." Hermes replied quietly.

The Kanes and all the gods watched as Percy strolled up to the package. The boy sat anext to it and ripped it open. A note fell out...

_Dear Everyone,_

_I have sent these two books from the future and the past for you to read. I want you to understand each other better. You will not be allowed to leave until you finish the books._

_Sincerely,_

_Shape-Shifter_

When Percy finished reading, he picked up two books.

"Hey, can we read mine first? I mean, I'm not totally psyched that you can hear all of my thoughts, but seriously. Please?" He grinned at the end.

All the gods nodded.

He walked over to where he had been sitting, next to Nico.

He opened the book, and began to read...


	2. Chapter 2: I Go Cruising With Explosives

**Chapter 2 of Understanding!**

**Enjoy!**

**Disclamier: I do not own the characters in any way.**

Before Percy read, he quickly scanned the page with a grimace. Everyone saw it.

"Right," he said.

**Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Last Olympian**

**Chapter 1: I Go Cruising with Explosives**

Everyone glanced at each. The beginning didn't sound too good.

**The end of the world started when a Pegasus landed on the hood of my car.**

The Egyptions looked confused, but said nothing.

**Up until then, I was having a great afternoon. Technically I wasn't to be driving because I wouldn't turn sixteen for another week, but my mom and my stepdad, Paul, took my friend Rachel and me to this private stretch of beach on the South Shore, and Paul let us borrow his Prius for a short spin. **

"LUCKY!" Carter and Sadie.

**Now , I know you're thinking, **_**Wow, that was really irresponsible of him, blah, blah, blah,**_** but Paul knows me pretty well.**

Athena was muttering yes to herself.

**He's seen me slice up demons and leap out of exploding school buildings, so he probably figured taking a car a few hundred yards wasn't exactly the most dangerous thing I'd ever done.**

The Egyptions already looked very interested. Especially Carter and Sadie.

**Anyways, Rachel and I were driving along.**

"Who's Rachael?" Several voices coursed the same question.

"You'll see." Percy replied.

**It was a hot August day. Rachel's red hair was pulled back in a ponytail and she wore a white blouse over her swimsuit. I'd never seen her in anything but ratty T-shirts and paint-splattered jeans before, and she looked like a million drachmas.**

"What are drachmas?" Carter asked.

"Ancient Greek money."

"**Oh, pull up right there!" she told me.**

**We parked on a ridge overlooking the Atlantic. **

None of the Greek gods were interested. If this happened, it happened. But the Egyption gods, and demigods (I guess you could say), were VERY interested.

**The sea is always one of my favorite places, but today it was especially nice - glittery green and smooth as glass, as though my dad was keeping it calm for us.**

**My dad, by the way, is Poseidon. He can do stuff like that.**

Poseidon smiled slightly. Of course he was going to keep it calm for his son.

"**So." Rachel smiled at me. "About that invitation."**

"What invitation?" Sadie asked.

Carter smacked his forehead with his palm, and groaned.

"You'll find out." Percy was already started to get annoyed. He didn't like questions.

"**Oh… right." I tried to sound excited. I mean, she'd asked me to her family's vacation house on St. Thomas for three days. I didn't get a lot of offers like that. My family's idea of a fancy vacation was a weekend in a rundown cabin on Long Island with some movie rentals and a couple of frozen pizzas, and here Rachel's folks were willing to let m tag along to the Caribbean.**

Everyone was kinda surprised at that. They thought he was rich, by the way he dressed, and seemed to act.

**Besides I seriously needed a vacation. This summer had been the hardest of my life. The idea of taking a break even for a few days was really tempting.**

**Still, something big was supposed to go down any day now. I was "on call" for a mission.**

Carter slapped his hand over Sadie's mouth before she could ask another question.

"Continue," Carter muttered.

**Even worse, next week was my birthday. There was this prophecy that said when I turned sixteen, bad things would happen.**

"Sounds lovely," someone muttered.

"**Percy," she said, "I know the timing is bad. But its **_**always**_** bad for you, right?"**

**She had a point.**

Rasied eyebrows.

"**I really want to go," I promised. "It's just that –"**

"**The war."**

"You guys are at war too?" Carter asked.

Percy grimaced. "Ya. Against the Lord of Time- Kronos."

The Egyptions still looked confused about who the Lord of Time was, but asked nothing.

**I nodded. I didn't really like talking about it, but Rachel knew. Unlike most mortals, she could see through the Mist – the magical veil that distorts human vision. She'd seen monsters. She'd met some of the other demigods who were fighting the Titans and their allies. She'd even been there last summer when the chopped up Lord Kronos rose out of his coffin in a terrible new form, and she'd earned my permanent respect by nailing him in the eye with a blue plastic hairbrush.**

There was some laughing at the last sentence. Even Percy cracked a smile at that.

**She put her hand on my arm. "Just think about it, okay? We don't leave for a couple of days. My dad…" Her voice faltered.**

"**Is he giving you a hard time?" I asked.**

**She shook her head in disgust. "He's trying to be **_**nice **_**to me, which is almost worse. He wants me to go to Clarion Ladies Academy in the fall."**

"**The school where your mom went?"**

"**It's a stupid finishing school for society girls, all the way in New Hampshire. Can you see me in finishing school?"**

"What's so wrong with finishing school?" Aphrodite asked, sounding offended.

"Tons," Sadie muttered.

**I admitted the idea sounded pretty dumb, Rachel was into urban art projects and feeding the homeless and going to protest rallies to "Save the Endangered Yellow-bellied Sapsucker" and stuff like that. I'd never even seen her wear a dress. It was hard to imagine her learning to be a socialite.**

That kinda reminded Carter of Sadie. Never seeing her in a dress, and never learning to be a socialite. Sadie was thinking something along the same lines... Except without the never learning to be a socialite.

**She sighed. "He thinks that if he does a bunch of nice stuff for me, I'll feel guilty and give in."**

"**Which is why he agreed to let me come with you guys on vacation?"**

"**Yes… but Percy, you'd be doing me a huge favor. It would be **_**so**_** much better if you were with us. Besides, there's something I want to talk –" She stopped abruptly.**

"Awww... I wanna hear what she wanted to talk to you about!" Nico whined.

Percy slapped him up-side the head.

"**Something you want to talk about?" I asked. "You mean… so serious we'd have to go to St. Thomas to talk about?" **

"Obviously, if she stopped talking about it!" someone shouted it at him.

Percy just shrugged.

**She pursued her lips. "Look, just forget it for now. Let's pretend we're a couple of normal people. We're out for a drive, and we're watching the ocean, and it's nice to be together.**

**I could tell something was bothering her, but she put on a brave smile. The sunlight made her hair look on fire. We'd spent a lot of time together this summer. I hadn't exactly planned it that way, but the more serious things got at camp, the more I found myself needing to call up Rachel and get away, just for some breathing room.**

"**Okay," I said. "Just a normal afternoon and two normal people."**

"Riiight... Normal. I'd _love _to see when that happens Perce." Nico said sarcastically.

**She nodded. "And so… hypothetically, if these two people liked each other, what would it take to get the stupid guy to kiss the girl, huh?"**

Percy spluttered at the end, face bright red in embarrassment.

This caused everyone to laugh.

Percy glared at everyone until _finally, _they stopped laughing.

"**Oh…" I felt like one of Apollo's sacred cows – slow, dumb, and bright red.**

"**HEY!**" Apollo thundered. "_**I TAKE OFFENSE TO THAT!"**_

This also began another round of laughing.

"**Um.."**

**I can't pretend I hadn't thought about Rachel. She was so much easier to be around than… well, some other girls I knew.**

"*Cough* Annabeth *Cough*" Nico.

Percy felt like strangling him.

**I didn't have to work hard, or watch what I said, or rack my brain trying to figure out what she was thinking. Rachel didn't hide much. She let you know how she felt.**

**I'm not sure what I would have done next – but I was so distracted, I didn't notice the huge black form swooping down from the sky until four hooves landed on the hood of the Prius with a wump-wump-crunch!**

"NOT THE CAR!" someone yelled, as if in agony.

_**Hey, boss, **_**a voice said in my head. **_**Nice car!**_

**Blackjack the Pegasus was an old friend of mine, so I tried not to get too annoyed by the craters he'd just put in the hood; but I didn't think my stepdad would be real stoked.**

"You can talk to pegasus's?"

"Yup."

"Cool"

"**Blackjack," I sighed. "What are you –"**

**Then I saw who was riding on his back, and I knew my day was about to get a lot more complicated. **

"'**Sup, Percy."**

**Charles Beckendorf, a senior counselor for the Hephaestus cabin, would make most monsters cry for their mommies.**

"I doubt that!" Sadie scoffed.

"Oh. Trust me. He would." Cue the evil grins from Nico and Percy.

**He was huge, with ripped muscles from working on the forges every summer, two years older than me, and one of the camp's best armorsmiths. He made some seriously ingenious mechanical stuff. A month before, he'd rigged a Greek firebomb in the bathroom of a tour bus that was carrying a bunch of monster across country. The explosion took out the whole legion of Kronos's evil meanies as soon as the first harpy went- **_**flush.**_

Laughter that lasted 10 minutes echoed around the room.

**Beckendorf was dressed for combat. He wore a bronze breastplate and war helm with black camo pants and a sword strapped to his side. His explosives bag was slung over his shoulder.**

"**Time?" I asked.**

**He nodded grimly.**

**A clump formed in my throat. I'd known this was coming. We'd been planning for it for weeks, but I'd half hoped it would never happen.**

**Rachel looked up at Beckendorf. "Hi."**

"**Oh, hey. I'm Beckendorf. You must be Rachel. Percy's told me… uh, I mean he mentioned you."**

"Smooth. Real smooth." Sadie said sarcasticlly

**Rachel raised an eyebrow. "Really? Good." She glanced at Blackjack, who was clopping his hooves against the hood of the Prius. "So I guess you guys have to go save the world now."**

"**Pretty much." Beckendorf agreed.**

**I looked at Rachel helplessly. "Would you tell my mom –"**

"**I'll tell her. I'm sure she's used to it. And I'll explain to Paul about the hood."**

**I nodded my thanks. I figured this might be the last time Paul loaned me his car.**

"Was it?"

"Ya. No more car rides for me..."

"**Good luck." Rachel kissed me before I could even react.**

Percy blushed again and muttered, "No tells Annabeth, or they might find their head no longer attached to their body..."

**"Now get going half-blood. Go kill some monsters for me."**

**My last view of her was sitting in the shotgun seat of the Prius, arms crossed, watching as Blackjack circled higher and higher, carrying Beckendorf and me into the sky. I wondered what she wanted to talk to me about, and whether or not I would live long enough to find out.**

"**So," Beckendorf said, "I'm guessing you don't want me to mention that little scene to Annabeth?"**

"**Oh gods," I muttered. "Don't even think about it."**

More chuckles from some people.

**Beckendorf chuckled, and together we soared over the Atlantic.**

**It was almost dark by the time we spotted our target. The **_**Princess Andromeda **_**glowed on the horizon – a huge cruise ship light up yellow and white. From a distance, you'd think it was just a party ship, not the headquarters for the Titan lord. Then as you got closer, you might notice the giant figurehead – a dark-haired maiden in a Greek chiton, wrapped in chains with a look of horror on her face, as if she could smell the stench of all the monsters she was being forced to carry.**

**Seeing the ship again twisted my gut into knots. I'd almost died twice on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_**. Now it was heading straight for New York.**

"Twice."

Percy didn't reply. It already said it in the book.

"**You know what to do?" Beckendorf yelled over the wind.**

**I nodded. We'd done dry runs at the dockyards in New Jersey, using abandoned ships as our targets.**

"Smart." Horus commented.

"Thanks?"

**I knew how little time we would have. But I also knew this was our best chance to end Kronos's invasion before it ever started. **

"**Blackjack," I said, "set us down on the lowest stern point.**

_**Gotcha, boss,**_** he said. **_**Man, I hate seeing that boat.**_

"Why would he hate seeing the boat?"

"It says in the book."

**Three years ago, Blackjack had been enslaved on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** until he'd escaped with a little help from my friends and me. I figured he'd rather have his man braided like My Little Pony then be back there again. **

Snorts of laughter.

"**Don't wait for us," I told him.**

_**But boss – **_

"**Trust me," I said. "We'll get out by ourselves."**

Already everyone was getting a bad feeling about this.

**Blackjack folded his wings and plummeted toward the boat like a black comet. The wind whistled in my ears. I saw monsters patrolling the upper decks on the ship – **_**dracaena, **_**snake- women, hellhounds, giants and the humanoid sea-demons known as telkhines – but we zipped by so fast, none of them raised the alarm. We shot down the stern of the boat, Blackjack folded his wings, lightly coming to a landing on the lowest deck. I climbed off, feeling queasy.**

_**Good luck, boss,**_** Blackjack said. **_**Don't let 'em turn you into horse meat!**_

Poseidon snorted softly. Of course he would say that.

**With that, my old friend flew off into the night. I took my pen out of my pocket and uncapped it, Riptide sprang to full size – three feet of deadly Celestial bronze glowing in the dusk. **

**Beckendorf pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket. I thought it was a map or something. Then I realized it was a photograph. He stared at it in the dim light – the smiling face of Silena Beauregard, daughter of Aphrodite.**

Everyone smiled a little.

**They'd started going out last summer, after years of the rest of us saying "Duh, you guys like each other!" Even with all the dangerous missions Beckendorf had been happier this summer then I had ever seen him.**

"**We'll make it back at camp." I promised.**

**For a second I say worry in his eyes. Then he put on his old confident smile.**

"**You bet," He said. "Let's blow Kronos back into a million pieces."**

Bigger smiles at the last sentence.

**Beckendorf led the way. We followed a narrow corridor to the service stairwell, just like we practiced, but we froze when we heard noises above us.**

"**I don't care what your nose says!" snarled a half-human, half-dog voice – a telkhine. "The last time you smelled half-blood, it was a meatloaf sandwich!"**

Giggles and chuckles were heard.

"**Meatloaf sandwiches are good!" a second voice snarled. "But this is half-blood, I swear. They are on board!"**

"**Bah, your **_**brain**_** isn't on board."**

Full out laughing now.

**They continued to argue and Beckendorf pointed downstairs. We descended as quietly as we could. Two floors down, the voices of the telkhines began to fade. **

**Finally we came to a metal hatch. Beckendorf mouthed the words "engine room".**

**It was locked, but as Beckendorf pulled some chains cutters out of his bag and split the bolt like it was made of butter.**

**Inside, a row of yellow turbines the size of grain silos churned and hummed. Pressure gauges and computer terminals lined the opposite wall. A telkhine was hunched over a console, but he was so involved with his work, he didn't notice us. He was about five feet tall , with slick black seal fur and stubby little feet. He had the head of a Doberman, but his clawed hands were almost human. He growled and muttered as he tapped on his keyboard. Maybe he was messaging his friends on **_** .**_

Smiles were seen and chuckles heard.

**I stepped forward, and he tensed, probably smelling something was wrong. He leaped sideways towards a big red alarm button, but I blocked his path. He hissed and lunged at me, but one slice of Riptide, and he exploded into dust. **

"**One down," Beckendorf said. "About five thousand to go." **

Smiles faded now.

**He tossed me a jar of thick green liquid – Greek fire, one of the most dangerous magical substances in the world. Then he threw me another essential tool to demigod heroes – duct tape.**

"**Slap that one of the console," he said. "I'll get the turbines."**

**We went to work, the room was hot and humid, and in no time we were drenched in sweat.**

Some looked kinda disgusted.

**The boat kept chugging along. Being the son of Poseidon and all, I have a perfect bearing at sea. Don't ask me how, but I could tell we were at 40.19 degrees North, 71.90 degrees West, making eighteen knots, which would arrive in New York Harbor by dawn. This would be our only chance to stop it.**

**I had just attached a second jar of Greek fire to the control panels when I heard pounding feet on metal steps – so many creatures coming down the stairwell I could hear them over the engines. Not a good sign. I locked eyes with Beckendorf, "How much longer?"**

"**Too long." He tapped his watch, which was our remote control detonator. "I still have to wire the receiver and prime the charges. Ten more minutes at least." **

Lips were pressed into thin lines and everyone looked worried.

**Judging from the sounds of footsteps, we had about ten seconds.**

"**I'll distract them." I said. "Meet you at the rendezvous point."**

"**Percy –"**

"**Wish me luck."**

**He looked like he wanted to argue.**

Poseidon face palmed.

Mostly everyone else muttered _damn._

**The whole idea had been to get in and get out without being spotted. But we had to improvise.**

"**Good luck." He said.**

**I charged out the door. **

**A half dozen telkhines were tromping down the stairs. T cut through them with Riptide faster than they could yelp. I kept climbing – past another telkhine, who was so startled he dropped his Lil' Demons lunch box. I kept him alive – partly because his lunch box was cool,**

Snorts.

**partly so he could raise the alarm and hopefully get his friends to follow me rather than head towards the engine room.**

**I burst through a door onto deck six and kept running. I'm sure the carpeted hall was once been very plush, but over the last three years of monster occupation the wallpaper, carpet, and stateroom doors had been clawed up and slimed so it looked like the inside of a dragon's throat (and yes, unfortunately, I speak from experience.)**

Surprised looks. Even the Greek gods looked surprised.

**Back on my first visit to the **_**Princess Andromeda, **_**my old enemy Luke had kept some dazed tourists on board for show, shrouded in Mist so they didn't realize they were on a monster-infested ship. I hated to think of what had happened to them, but I kind of doubted they'd be allowed to go home with their bingo winnings.**

Grimaces.

**I reached the promenade, a big shopping mall that took up the whole middle of the ship, and I stopped cold. In the middle of the courtyard stood a fountain. And in the fountain squatted a giant crab. **

**I'm not talking "giant" like $7.99 all-you-can-eat-Alaskan king crab. I'm talking **_**giant **_**like bigger than the fountain. The monster rose ten feet out of the water. Its shell was mottled blue and green, and its pincers larger than my body.**

'GREAT' everyone groaned.

**If you've ever seen a crab's mouth, all foamy and gross with whiskers and snapping bits, you can imagine this one didn't look any better blown up to billboard size.**

"Eeewwwww!" some shrieked.

**It's beady black eyes glared at me, and I could see intelligence in them – and hate. The fact that I was the son of the sea god was not going to win me any points with Mr. Crabby.**

"**FFFfffff," it hissed, sea foam dripping from its mouth. The smell coming off him was like garbage can full of fish sticks that had been sitting in the sun all week.**

**Alarms blared. Soon I was going to have lots of company and I had to keep moving.**

"**Hey, crabby." I inched around the edge of the courtyard. "I'm just gonna scoot around you so –"**

"I'm sure talking to it will help." Nico. Being sarcastic _again._

**The crab moved with amazing speed. It scuttled out of the fountain and came straight at me, pincers snapping . I dove into a gift shop, plowing through a rack of t-shirts. A crab pincer smashed the glass walls to pieces and raked across the room. I dashed back outside, breathing heavily, but Mr. Crabby turned and followed.**

"**There!" a voice said from a balcony above me. "Intruder!"**

**If I'd wanted to create a distraction, I'd succeeded, but this was not where I wanted to fight. If I got pinned down in the center of the ship, I was crab chow.**

More groans and worried looks. All sarcasm seemed to be gone.

**The demonic crustacean lunged at me. I sliced with Riptide, taking off the tip of its claw. It hissed and foamed, but didn't seem very hurt.**

**I tried to remember anything from the old stories that might help with this thing. Annabeth had told me about a monster crab – something about Hercules crushing it under his foot? That wasn't going to work here. This crab was slightly bigger than my Reeboks.**

Only slightly cracked smiles. Ares seemed to be getting really excited now.

**Then a weird thought occured to me. Last Christmas, my mom and I had brought Paul Blofis to our cabin at Montauk, where we'd been going forever. Paul had taken me crabbing, and when he'd brought up a net full of things he'd shown me how crabs have a chink in their armor, right in the middle of their ugly bellies.**

The gods looked at him. He seriously wasn't going to do it. Was he?

**The only problem was getting to the ugly belly.**

**I glanced at the fountain, then at the marble floor, already slick from scuttling crab tracks.**

**I held out my hand, concentrating on the water, and the fountain exploded. Water sprayed everywhere, three stories high, dousing the balconies and the elevators and the windows of the shops. The crab didn't care. It loved water. It came at me sideways, snapping and hissing, and I ran straight at it, screaming. "AHHHHHHH!"**

**Just before we collided, I hit the ground baseball-style and slide on the wet marble floor straight under the creature. It was like sliding under a seven ton vehicle. All the crab had to was sit and squash me, but before it realized what was going on, I jabbed Riptide into the chink in its armor, let go of the hilt, and pushed myself out backside.**

The Egyptions looked quite amazed, and Poseidon looked proud and a bit surprised. Nico started clapping for Percy, which led to everyone else clapping. But Percy's expression wasn't one of pride or happiness, it was one of depression, and sadness. They knew something bad was going to happen.

**The monster shuddered and hissed. Its eyes dissolved. Its shell turned bright red and its insides evaporated. The empty shell clattered to the floor in a massive heap. **

**I didn't have time to admire my handiwork. I ran for the nearest stairs while all around me monsters and demigods shouted orders and strapped on their weapons. I was empty-handed . Riptide, being magical, would appear in my pocket sooner or later, but for not it was stuck somewhere under the wreckage of the crab, and I had no time to retrieve it.**

"Greeeeaaaat!" several people muttered.

**In the elevator foyer of deck eight, a couple of **_**dracaena **_**slithered across my path. From the waist up, they were woman with green scaly skin, yellow eyes, and forked tongues. From the waist down, they had double snake trunks instead of legs. They held spears and weighted nets, and I knew from experience they could use them.**

"**What isss thisss?" one said. "A prize for Kronosss?"**

**I wasn't in the mood to play break-the-snake, but in front of me was a stand with a model of the ship, like a you are here display. I ripped the model off the pedestal and hurled it at the first **_**dracaena. **_**The boat smacked her in the face and she went down with the ship. I jumped over her, grabbed her friend's spear, and swung it around. She slammed into the elevator, and I kept running toward the front of the ship.**

Tension started to build.

"**Get him!" she screamed.**

**Hellhounds bayed. An arrow somewhere whizzed past my face and impaled itself in the mahogany-paneled wall of the stairwell.**

**I didn't care – as long as I go the monsters away from the engine room and gave Beckendorf more time.**

Everyone tensed up. This was NOT a good FIRST chapter.

**As I was running up the stairwell, a kid charged down. He looked like he'd just woken up from a nap. His armor was half on. He drew his sword and yelled, "Kronos!" but he sounded more scared than angry. He couldn't have been more than twelve – about the same age I was when I'd first arrived at Camp Half-Blood.**

**That thought depressed me. This kid was getting brainwashed – trained to hate the gods and lash out because he'd been born half Olympian. Kronos was using him, and yet the kid thought I was his enemy.**

Most people looked depressed at that thought.

**No way was I going to hurt him. I didn't need a weapon for this. I stepped inside his strike and grabbed his wrist, slamming it against the wall. His sword clattered out of his hand.**

**Then I did something I hadn't planned on. It was probably stupid. It definitely jeopardized our mission, but I couldn't help it. "If you want to live," I told him, "get off this ship **_**now. **_**Tell the other demigods." Then I shoved him down the stairs and sent him tumbling to the next floor.**

At least he tried, some people thought.

**I kept climbing.**

**Bad memories: a hallway ran past the cafeteria. Annabeth, my half brother Tyson, and I had sneaked through here three years ago on my first visit. **

**I burst outside the main deck. Off the port bow, the sky was darkening from purple to black. A swimming pool glowed between two glass towers with more balconies and restaurant decks. The whole upper ship seemed eerily deserted.**

**All I had to do was cross the other side. Then I could take the staircase down to the helipad – our emergency rendezvous point. With any luck, Beckendorf would meet me there. We'd jump into the sea. My water powers would protect us both, and we'd detonate the charges a quarter of a mile away.**

"So thats' how you're going to escape!"

**I was halfway across the deck when the sound of a voice made me freeze. "Your late, Percy."**

**Luke stood on the balcony above me, a smile on his scarred face. He wore jeans, a while T-shirt, and flip-flops, like he was just a normal college-age guy, but his eyes told the truth. They were solid gold.**

"Lord Kronos..."

Hermes looked very depressed, and distraught.

"**We've been expecting you for days." At first he sounded normal, like Luke. But then his face twitched. A shudder passed through his body as though he'd just drunk something really nasty. His voice became heavier, ancient, and powerful – the voice of the Titan lord Kronos. The words scrapped down my spine like a knife blade. "Come, bow before me."**

Percy shuddered.

Nico looked upset too. He never really knew Luke, but when he met him, dying, he seemed generally like a nice person.

"**Yeah, that'll happen," I muttered.**

**Laistrygonian giants filed in on either side of the swimming pool as if they'd been waiting for the cue. Each was eight feet tall with tattooed arms, leather armor, and spiked clubs. Demigod archers appeared on the roof above Luke. Two hellhounds leaped down from the opposite balcony and snarled at me. Within seconds I was surrounded. A trap: there's no way they could've gotten into position so fast unless they'd known I was coming.**

Percy thought of Silena... Poor Silena...

**I looked up at Luke, and anger boiled inside me. I didn't know if Luke's consciousness was even alive inside that body. Maybe, the way his voice had changed… or maybe it was just Kronos adapting to his new form. I told myself it didn't matter. Luke had been twisted and evil long before Kronos possessed him.**

**A new voice in my head said: **_**I have to fight him eventually. Why not now?**_

"Idiot," everyone choursed.

**According to that big prophecy, I was supposed to make a choice that saved or destroyed the world when I was sixteen. That was only seven days away. Why not now? If I really had the power, what difference would a week make? I could end this threat right here by taking down Kronos. Hey, I'd fought monsters and gods before.**

**As if reading my thoughts, Luke smiled. No, he was **_**Kronos.**_** I had to remember that.**

"**Come forward," he said. "If you dare." **

**The crowd of monsters parted. I moved up the stairs, my heart pounding. I was sure somebody would stab me in the back, but they let me pass. I felt my pocket and found my pen waiting. I uncapped it, and Riptide grew into a sword.**

**Kronos's weapon appeared in his hands – a six-foot0long scythe, half Celestial bronze, half mortal steal. Just looking at the thing made my knees turn to Jell-O. But before I could change my mind, I charged.**

"Idiot," this time it was the Greek gods and Nico.

**Time slowed down. I mean **_**literally **_**slowed down, because Kronos had that power.**

Raised eyebrows from the Egyptions.

He is never going to beat him, they thought.

**I felt like I was moving through syrup. My arms were so heavy, I could barely raise my sword. Kronos smiled, swirling his scythe at normal speed and waiting for me to creep toward my death.**

**I tried to fight his magic. I concentrated on the sea around me – the source of my power. I'd gotten better at channeling it over the years, but now nothing seemed to happen.**

**I took another slow step forward. Giants jeered. **_**Dracaena **_**hissed with laughter.**

_**Hey, ocean, **_**I pleaded. **_**Any day now would be good.**_

**Suddenly there was a wrenching pain in my gut. The entire boat lurched sideways, throwing monsters off their feet. Four thousand gallons of salt water surged out of the swimming pool, dousing me and Kronos and everyone on the dock. The water revitalized me, breaking the time spell, and I lunged forward.**

Nico smiled. Only slightly. Other looked amazed. Especially the Greek gods. It had taken them who knows how long to learn to break the spell.

**I struck at Kronos, but I was still too slow. I made the mistake at looking at his face - **_**Luke's face – **_**a guy who was once my friend. As much as I hated him, it was hard to kill him.**

Hermes looked even more upset.

**Kronos had no such hesitation. He sliced downward with his scythe. I leaped back and the evil blade missed by an inch, cutting in the deck right between my feet.**

**I kicked Kronos in the chest. He stumbled backward, but he was heavier than Luke should've been. It was like kicking a refrigerator.**

Athena had a knowing look on her face. She knew why, as well as Thoth. He knew why too.

**Kronos swung his scythe again. I intercepted with Riptide, but his strike was so powerful, my blade could only reflect it. The edge of the scythe shaved off my shirtsleeve and grazed my arm. It shouldn't have been a serious cut, but the entire side of my body exploded with pain. I remembered what a sea demon had once said about Kronos's scythe: **_**Careful, fool. One touch, and that blade will sever your soul from your body.**_** Now I understood what he meant.**

Percy sqeezed his eyes shut. He remembered... He remembered it all so clearly...

**I wasn't just losing blood, I could feel my strength, my will, my identity draining away.**

**I stumbled backward, switched my sword to my left hand, and lunged desperately. My blade should've run him through, but it deflected off his stomach like I was hitting solid marble. There was no way he should've survived that.**

**Kronos laughed. "A poor performance, Percy Jackson. Luke tells me you were never his match at swordplay."**

**My vision started to blur. I knew it didn't have much time. "Luke had a big head," I said. "But at least it was **_**his **_**head."**

No one smiled. Well, except Nico, but he can be an idiot sometimes.

"**A shame to kill you now," Kronos mused, "before the final plan unfolds. I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus."**

"**You'll never get this boat to Manhattan." My arm was throbbing. Black spots danced in my vision.**

"**And why would that be?" Kronos's golden eyes glittered. His face – Luke's face – seemed like a mask, unnatural and lit from behind by some evil power. "Perhaps you are counting on your friend with the explosives?" **

People started to hold their breaths. He had gotten caught.

**He looked down at the pool and called, "Nakamura!" **

**A teenage guy in full Greek armor pushed through the crows. His left eye was covered with a black patch. I knew him, of course: Ethan Nakamura, the son of Nemesis. I'd saved his life in the Labyrinth last summer, and in return, the little punk had helped Kronos come back to life.**

Nico looked mad now. He _really _didn't like that punk.

"**Success, my lord," Ethan called. "We found him just as we were told."**

**He clapped his hands, and two giants lumbered forward, dragging Charles Beckendorf between the,. My heart almost stopped. Beckendorf had a swollen eye and cuts all over his face and arms. His armor was gone and his shirt was nearly torn off.**

"**No!" I yelled.**

Some people flinched. Hephaestus looked upset now too. His son... His was going to die...

**Beckendorf met my eyes. He glanced at his hand like he was trying to tell me something. **_**His watch.**_** They hadn't taken it yet, and that was the detonator. Was it possible the explosives where still armed? Surely the monsters would've dismantled them right away.**

"**We found him amidships," one of the giants said, "trying to sneak to the engine room. Can we eat him now?"**

"**Soon." Kronos scowled at Ethan. "Are you sure he didn't set the explosives?"**

Smiles. They hadn't disarmed the bombs. They still had a chance.

"**He was going **_**toward**_** the engine room, my lord."**

"**How do you know that?"**

"**Er…" Ethan shifted uncomfortably. "He was heading in that direction. And he told us. His bag is still full of explosives."**

**Slowly, I began to understand. Beckendorf had fooled them. When he'd realized he was going to be captured, he turned to make it look like he was going the other way. He'd convinced them he hadn't made it to the engine room yet. The Greek fire might still be primed! But that didn't do us any good unless we could get off the ship and detonate it.**

**Kronos hesitated.**

_**Buy the story, **_**I prayed. The pain in my arm was so bad now I could barely stand.**

Sucked in breaths. Tension built once more.

"**Open his bag," Kronos ordered.**

**One of the giants ripped the explosives satchel from Beckendorf's shoulders. He peered inside, grunted, and turned it upside down. Panicked monsters surged backward. If the bag really had been full of Greek fire jars, we would've all blown up. But what fell out were a dozen cans of peaches.**

**I could hear Kronos breathing, trying to control his anger.**

Cracked smiles. They really did still have a chance.

"**Did you, perhaps," he said. "capture this demigod near the galley?"**

**Ethan turned pale. "Um – "**

"**And did you, perhaps, send someone to actually CHECK THE ENGINE ROOM?"**

**Ethan scrambled back in terror then turned on his heels and ran.**

**I cursed silently. Now we had only minutes before the bombs were disarmed. I caught Beckendorf's eyes again and asked a silent question, hoping he would understand: **_**How long?**_

**He cupped his fingers and thumb, making a circle. **_**Zero.**_

**There was no delay on the timer at all. If he managed to press the detonator button, the ship would blow at once. We'd never be able to get far enough away before using it. The monsters would kill us first, or disarm the explosives, or both.**

Groans of horror and depression were heard.

**Kronos turned towards me with a crooked smile. "You'll have to excuse my incompetent help, Percy Jackson. But it doesn't matter. We have you now. We've known you were coming for weeks."**

**He held out his hand and dangled a little sliver bracelet with a scythe charm – the Titan lord's symbol.**

**The wound in my arm was sapping my ability to think.**

"Really?" Nico asked. "I thought you were always like that."

Snorts of laughter.

**I muttered, "Communication device.. spy at camp."**

**Kronos chuckled. "You can't count on your friends. They will always let you down. Luke learned that lesson the hard way, Now drop your sword and surrender to me, or your friend dies."**

Que the lip chewing.

**I swallowed. One of the giants had his hand around Beckendorf's neck. I was in no shape to rescue him, and even if I tried, he would die before I got there. We both would.**

**Beckendorf mouthed one word: **_**Go.**_

**I shook my head. I couldn't just leave him.**

**The second giant was still rummaging through the peach cans, which meant Beckendorf's left arm was free. He raised it slowly – toward the watch on his wrist.**

"He's going to do it," a couple random gods muttered softly.

**I wanted to scream, **_**NO!**_

**Then down at the swimming pool, one of the**_** dracaena**_** hissed, "What isss he doing? What isss that on hisss wrissst?"**

**Beckendorf closed eyes tight and brought down his hand up to his watch.**

**I had no choice. I threw my sword like a javelin at Kronos. It bounced harmlessly off his chest, but it did startle him. I pushed through the crowed of monsters and jumped off the side of the ship – toward the water a hundred feet below. **

**I heard rumbling deep in the ship. Monsters yelled at me from above. A spear sailed past my ear. An arrow pierce my thigh, but I barely had time to register the pain. I plunged into the sea and willed the currents to take me far, far away – a hundred yards, two hundred yards.**

**Even from a distance, the explosion shook the world. Heat seared the back of my head. The **_**Princess Andromeda **_**blew up from both sides, massive fireball of green flame roiling into the dark sky, consuming everything.**

**Beckendorf, I thought,**

**Then I blacked out and sank like an anchor toward the bottom of the sea.**

Silence consumed the room.

* * *

**Next chapter will be out soon. (Hopefully) This takes longer than it looks! Please vote on the poll on my account! If you don't vote, how will I know what story to do next?**


	3. Chapter 3: I Meet Some Fishy Relatives

**Chapter 3! But chapter 2 in the Last Olympian!**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

**Enjoy!**

"I'll read next." It was Nico. Percy gladly handed him the book.

Nico re-opened the book and found chapter two. Clearing his throat, he began to read.

**I Meet Some Fishy Relatives**

**Demigod dreams suck.**

Nico could relate, so he nodded before continuing. Carter wondered if it was like their dreams.

**The thing is, they're never just **_**dreams.**_** They've got to be visions, omens, and all that other mystical stuff that makes my brain hurt.**

A few laughs. "Only you Perce. Only you."

**I dreamed I was in a dark palace at the top of a mountain. Unfortunately, I recognized it: the palace of the Titans on top of Mount Othrys, otherwise known as Mount Tamalpais, in California. The main pavilion was open to the night, ringed with black Greek columns and statues of the Titans. Torchlight glowed against the black marble floor. In the center of the room, an armored giant struggled under the weight of a swirling funnel cloud – Atlas, holding up the sky.**

A few of the Greek gods frowned at the mention of Atlas. The Egyptions didn't understand, but the Greeks ignored it. Nico continued on.

**Two other giant men stood nearby over a bronze brazier, studying images in the flames.**

**"Quite an explosion," one said. He wore black armor studded with sliver dots like a starry night. His face was covered in a war helm with a ram's horn curling on either side.**

**"It doesn't matter," the other said. This Titan was dressed in gold robes, with golden eyes like Kronos. His entire body glowed. He reminded me of Apollo, God of the Sun, except the Titan's light was harsher, and his expression crueler.**

Apollo huffed. Offended by what Percy said in the book.

"**The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed."**

"What challange?" Sadie asked.

"It will be in the book," Percy answered.

**The images in the fire were hard to make out: storms, buildings crumbling, mortals screaming in terror.**

**"I will go east to marshal our forces," the golden Titan said. "Krios, you shall remain and guard Mount Othrys."**

**The ram horn dude grunted. "I always get the stupid jobs. Lord of the South. Lord of Constellations. Now I get to babysit Atlas while **_**you **_**have all the fun."**

"Ram horn dude? Really Percy?" Nico.

**Under the whirlwind of Clouds, Atlas bellowed in agony. "Let me out, curse you! I am your greatest warrior. Take my burden so I may fight!"**

**"Quiet!" the golden Titan roared. "You had your chance, Atlas. You failed. Kronos likes you just where you are. As for you, Krios, do your duty."**

**"And if you need more warriors?" Krios asked. "Our treacherous nephew in the tuxedo will not do you much good in a fight."**

**The golden Titan laughed. "Don't worry about him. Besides, the gods can barely handle our first little challenge. They have no idea how many others we have in store. Mark my words, in a few days' time, Olympus will be in ruins, and we will meet here again to celebrate the down of the Sixth Age!"**

**The golden Titan erupted into flames and disappeared.**

**"Oh sure," Krios grumbled. "He gets to erupt into flames. I get to wear these stupid ram's horns."**

A few smiles and laughs.

**The scene shifted. Now I was outside the pavilion, hiding in the shadows of a Greek column. A boy stood next to me, eavesdropping on the Titans. He had dark silky hair, pale skin, and dark clothes – my friend Nico di Angelo, the son of Hades.**

"Hey look. I make an appearance!"

**He looked straight at me, his expression grim. "You see, Percy?" he whispered. "You're running out of time. Do you really think you can beat them without my plan?"**

Percy snorted. "And I nearly got killed in the process. _Thanks._" Sarcasm coated the word 'Thanks' in Percy's sentence.

**His words washed over me as cold as the ocean floor and my dreams went black.**

"**Percy?" a deep voice said.**

**My head felt like it had been micro waved in aluminum foil. I opened my eyes and saw a large shadowy figure looming over me.**

"**Beckendorf?" I asked hopefully.**

Percy and Hephaestus flinched. Percy muttered a sorry to him, then motioned to Nico to continue reading.

"**No, brother."**

**My eyes refocused. I was looking at a Cyclops – a misshapen face, ratty brown hair, one big brown eye full of concern. "Tyson?"**

**My brother broke into a toothy grin. "Yay! Your brain still works!"**

Lots of laughter echoed around the room.

"I'm not too sure about that," Nico teased him, causing Percy to cuff him round the head.

**I wasn't so sure.**

"Look! Even you agree!" Everyone roared in laughter. Percy's checks flared bright red. "Read the rest and you'll see why!" Percy snarled.

**My body felt weightless and cold my voice sounded wrong.. I could hear Tyson, but it was like I was hearing vibrations inside my skull, not the regular sounds.**

**I sat up, and a gossamer sheet floated away. I was on a bed made of silky woven kelp, in a room paneled with abalone shell. Glowing pearls the size of basketballs floated around the ceiling, providing light. I was under water.**

"Cool," someone muttered.

**Now ,being the son of Poseidon and all, I was okay with this. I can breathe underwater just fine, and my clothes don't even get wet unless I want them to. But it was still a bit of a shock when a hammerhead shark drifted through the bedroom window, regaded me, and then swam calmly out the opposite side of the room.**

**"Where – "**

**"Daddy's palace," Tyson said.**

Percy smirked. "Made a few more enemies that day."

**Under different circumstances, I would've been excited. I'd never visited Poseidon's realm, and I'd been dreaming about it for years. But my head hurt. My shirt was still speckled with burn marks from the explosion. My arm and leg wounds healed – being in the ocean can do that for me, given enough time – but I still felt like I'd been trampled by a Laistrygonian soccer team in cleats.**

**"How long –"**

**"We found you last night," Tyson said. "sinking through the water."**

**"The **_**Princess Andromeda?"**_

**"Went ka-boom," Tyson confirmed.**

**"Beckendorf was on board. Did you find…"**

**Tyson's face darkened. "No sign of him. I am sorry, brother."**

"He tried..." Percy muttered quietly.

**I stared out the window into the deep blue water. Beckendorf was supposed to go to college in the fall. He had a girlfriend, lots of friends, his whole life ahead of him. He couldn't be **_**gone.**_** Maybe he'd made it off the ship like I had. Maybe he'd jumped over the side… and what? He couldn't have survived a hundred-foot fall into the water like I could. He couldn't have put enough distance between himself and the explosion.**

**I knew in my gut he was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take out the **_**Princess Andromeda**_**, and I had abandoned him. I thought about my dream: the Titans discussing the explosion as if it didn't matter, Nico di Angelo warning me that I would never beat Kronos without following his plan – a dangerous idea I'd been avoiding for more than a year.**

"What plan?" It was Sadie again. "It. Says. In. The. Book." Percy said it slowly, as if talking to a disabled person, which quite a few found funny.

**A distant blast shook the room. Green light blazed outside, turning the whole sea as bright as noon.**

**"What was that?" I asked.**

**Tyson looked worried. "Daddy will explain. Come, he is blowing up monsters."**

**The place might have been the most amazing place I'd ever seen if it hadn't been in the process of getting destroyed. We swam to the end of a long hallway and shot upward on a geyser. As we rose over the rooftops I caught my breath – well, if you catch your breath underwater.**

**The palace was as big as the city on Mount Olympus, with wide courtyards, gardens, and columned pavilions. The gardens were sculpted with coral colonies and glowing sea plants. Twenty or thirty buildings were made of abalone, white but gleaming with rainbow colors. Fish and octopi darted in and out of the windows. The paths were lined with glowing pearls like Christmas lights.**

"Really? Like Christmas lights? Nice." Sarcasm, but from who, they did not know.

**The main courtyard was filled with warriors – mermen with fish tails from the waist down and human bodies from the waist up expect their skin was blue, which I'd never known before. Some were tending the wounded. Some were sharpening spears and swords. One passed us swimming in a hurry. His eyes where bright green, like the stuff they put in glo-sticks, and his teeth were shark teeth. They don't show you stuff like that in **_**The Little Mermaid.**_

"Cool!" Nico said.

**Outside the main courtyard stood large fortifications – towers, walls, and antisiege weapons – but most of these had been smashed to ruins. Others were blazing with a strange green light that I knew well – Greek fire, which can burn even underwater.**

"Really?" Mostly everyone asked that. Even some of the Greek gods didn't know that.

**Beyond this, the sea floor stretched into gloom. I could see battles raging- flashes of energy, explosions, the glint of armies clashing. A regular human would've found it too dark to see. Heck, a regular human would've been crushed by the pressure and frozen by the cold. Even my heat-sensitive eyes couldn't make out exactly what was going on.**

**At the edge of the palace complex, a temple with a red coral roof exploded, sending fire and debris streaming in slow motion across the farthest gardens. Out of the darkness above, an enormous form appeared – a squid larger than any skyscraper. It was surrounded by a glittering cloud of dust -at least I thought it was dust, until I realized it was a swarm of mermen trying to attack the monster. The squid descended on the palace and swatted its tentacles, smashing a whole column of warriors. Then a brilliant arc of blue light shot from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings. The light hit the giant squid, and the monster dissolved like food coloring in water.**

**"Daddy," Tyson said, pointing to where the light had come from.**

**"**_**He**_** did that?" I suddenly felt more hopeful. My dad had unbelievable powers. He was the god of the sea. He could deal with this attack, right? Maybe he'd let me help.**

**"Have you been in the fight?" I asked Tyson in awe. "Like bashing heads with your awesome Cyclops strength and that stuff?"**

**Tyson pouted, and immediately I knew I'd asked a bad question. "I have been… fixing weapons," he mumbled. "Come. Let's go find Daddy."**

"Poor Tyson," Nico muttered.

**I know this might sound weird to people with, like, regular parents, but I'd only seen my dad four or five times in my life, and never for more than a few minutes. The Greek gods don't exactly show up for their kids' basketball games. Still, I thought I would recognize Poseidon on sight.**

**I was wrong.**

"Getting old Sea Breath?" Athena taunted.

Anger flared in Poseidon's eyes. He opened his mouth, to do what they didn't know, but Nico interupted them.

**The roof of the temple was a big pen deck that had been set up as a command center. A mosaic on the floor showed an exact map of the palace grounds and the surrounding ocean, but the mosaic moved. Colored stone tiles representing different armies and sea monsters shifted around as the forced changed position. Buildings that collapsed in real life also collapsed in the picture.**

**Standing around the mosaic, grimly studying the battle, was a strange assortment of warriors, but none of them looked like my dad. I was searching for a big guy with a good tan and a black beard, wearing Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.**

**There was nobody like that. One guy was a merman with two fish tails instead of one. His skin was green, his armor studded with pearls. His black hair was tied in a ponytail, and he looked young – though it's hard to tell with non-humans. They could be a thousand years old or three. Standing next to him was an old man with a bushy white beard and gray hair. His battle armor seemed to weigh him down. He had green eyes and smile wrinkles around his eyes, but he wasn't smiling now. He was studying the map and leaning on a large metal staff. To his right stood a beautiful woman in green armor with flowing black hair and strange little horns like crab claws. And there was a dolphin – a regular dolphin, but it was staring at the map intently.**

**"Delphin," the old man said. "Send Palaemon and his legion of sharks to the western front. We have to neutralize those leviathans."**

**The dolphin smoke in a chattering voice, but I could understand it in my mind: **_**Yes, lord!**_** It sped away.**

**I looked in dismay at Tyson, then back at the old man.**

**It didn't seem possible, but…. "Dad?" I asked.**

**The old man looked up. I recognized the twinkle in his eyes, but his face.. he looked like he aged forty years.**

"**Hello, Percy."**

"**What – what happened to you?"**

**Tyson nudged me. He was shaking his head so hard I was afraid it would fall off, but Poseidon didn't look offended.**

"**It's alright, Tyson," he said. "Percy, excuse my appearance. This was has been hard on me."**

"**But you're immortal," I said quietly. "You can look… any way you want."**

"**I reflect the state of my realm," he said. "And right now that state is quite grim. Percy, I should introduce you – I'm afraid you just missed my lieutenant Delphin, God of the Dolphins. This is my, er, wife, Amphitrite. My dear –"**

"Nice stuttering, _old man._" Ares sneered.

**The lady in the green armor stared at me coldly, then crossed her arms and said, "Excuse me, my lord. I am needed in battle."**

**She swam away.**

**I felt pretty awkward, but I guess I couldn't blame her, I'd never thought about it much, but my dad had an immortal wife. All his romances with mortals, including with my mom…. well, Amphitrite probably didn't like me much.**

Poseidon flinched. He wished they could get along.

**Poseidon cleared his throat. "Yes, well… and this is my son Triton. Er, my **_**other**_** son."**

"**Your son and heir,"' the green dude corrected. His double dish tails swished back and forth. He smiled at me, but there was no friendliness in his eyes. "Hello, Perseus Jackson. Come to help at last?"**

**He acted like I was late or lazy. If you can blush under-water, I probably did.**

**"Tell me what to do," I said.**

**He smiled like that was a cute suggestion – like I was a slightly amusing dog that had barked for him or something. He turned to Poseidon. "I will see to the front line, Father. Don't worry. **_**I **_**will not fail."**

"He's an arrogant jerk." Percy muttered to Nico, but everyone heard him.

**He nodded politely to Tyson. How come I didn't get that much respect? Then he shot off into the water. Poseidon sighed. He raised his staff, and it changed into his regular weapon – a huge three-pointed trident. The tips glowed with blue light, and the water around it boiled with energy.**

**"I'm sorry about that," he told me.**

**A huge sea serpent appeared from above us and spiraled down towards the roof. It was a bright orange with a fanged mouth big enough to swallow a gymnasium. **

**Hardly looking up, Poseidon pointed his trident at the beast and zapped it with blue energy. **_**Ka-booom! **_**The monster burst into a million goldfish, which all swam off in terror.**

**"My family is anxious," Poseidon continued as if nothing had happened. "The battle against Oceanus is going poorly."**

**He pointed to the edge of the mosaic. With the butt of his trident he tapped the image of a merman larger than the rest, with the horns of a bull. He appeared to be riding a chariot pulled by crawfish, and instead of a sword he wielded a live serpent.**

**"Oceanus," I said, trying to remember. "The Titan of the sea?"**

**Poseidon nodded. "He was neutral in the first war of gods and Titans. But Kronos has convinced him to fight. This is.. well, not a good side. Oceanus would not commit unless he was sure he could pick the winning side."**

"He picked the wrong side then."

**"He looks stupid," I said, trying to sound upbeat. "I mean, who fights with a snake?"**

**"Daddy will tie it in knots," Tyson said firmly.**

**Poseidon smiled, but he looked weary. "I appreciate your faith. We have been at war almost a year now. My powers are taxed. And still he finds new forces to throw at me – sea monsters so ancient I had forgotten about them."**

**I heard an explosion in the distance. About half a mile away, a mountain of coral disintegrated under the weight of two giant creatures. I could dimly make out their shapes. One was a lobster. The other was a giant humanoid like a Cyclops, but he was surrounded by a flurry of limbs. At first I thought he was wearing a bunch of giant octopi. Then I realized they were his own arms – a hundred flailing, fighting arms.**

**"Briares!" I said.**

**I was happy to see him, but he looked like he was fighting for his life. He was the last of his kind – a Hundred Handed One, cousin of the Cyclopes. We had saved him from Kronos's prison last summer, and I knew he'd come to help Poseidon, but I hadn't heard of him since.**

"Poor Briares." Percy said.

**"He fights well," Poseidon said. "I wish we had a whole army like him, but he is only one."**

**I watched as Briares bellowed in rage and picked up the lobster, which thrashed and snapped it's pincers. He threw it off the coral mountain, and the lobster disappeared into the darkness. Briares swam after it, his hundred arms spinning like the blades of a motorboat. **

"**Percy, we may not have much time," my dad said. "Tell me of your mission. Did you see Kronos?"**

**I told him everything, though my voice choked up when I explained at Beckendorf. I looked down at the courtyards below and saw hundred of wounded merman lying on makeshift cots. I saw rows of coral mounds that must've been hastily made graves. I realized Beckendorf wasn't the first death. He was only one of hundreds, maybe thousands. I'd never felt so angry and helpless.**

**Poseidon stroke his beard, "Percy, Beckendorf chose a heroic death. You bear no blame for that. Kronos's army will be in disarray. Many were destroyed."**

"Good," Someone muttered.

**"But we didn't kill him, did we?"**

**As I said it, I knew it was a naïve hope. We might blow up his ships and disintegrate his monsters, but a Titan lord wouldn't be so easy to kill.**

**"No," Poseidon admitted. "But you've bought our side some time."**

"That's about the only thing you gave us," a Greek god muttered dully.

**"There were demigods on that ship," I said, thinking of the kid I'd seen in the stairwell. Somehow I'd allowed myself to concentrate on the monsters and Kronos. I'd convinced myself that destroying their ship was all right because they were evil, they were sailing to attack my city, and besides, they couldn't really be permanently killed. Monsters just vaporized and re-formed eventually. But demigods….**

**Poseidon put his hand on my shoulder. "Percy, there were only a few demigod warriors aboard that ship, and they all chose to battle for Kronos. Perhaps some heeded your warning and escaped. If they did not… they chose their path."**

**"They were brainwashed!" I said. "Now they're dead and Kronos is still alive. That's supposed to make me feel better?"**

"Yes," Nico said sarcasticly.

**I glared at the mosaic – little tile explosions destroying tile monsters. It seemed so easy when it was just a picture.**

**Tyson put his arm around me. If anybody else had tried that, I would've pushed them away, but Tyson was too big and stubborn. He hugged me whether I wanted it or not. "Not your fault, brother. Kronos does not explode good. Next time we will use a big stick."**

**"Percy," my father said. "Beckendorf's sacrifice wasn't in vain. You have scattered the invasion force. New York will be safe for a time, which frees the other Olympians to deal with the bigger threat."**

**"The bigger threat?" I thought about what the golden Titan had said in my dream: **_**The gods have answered the challenge. Soon they will be destroyed.**_

**A shadow passed over my father's face. "You've had enough sorrow for one day. Ask Chiron when you return to camp."**

"**Return to camp? But you're in trouble here. I want to help!"**

**"You can't, Percy. Your job is elsewhere."**

**I couldn't believe I was hearing this. I looked at Tyson for backup.**

**My brother chewed his lip. "Daddy….. Percy can fight with a sword. He is good."**

"**I know that," Poseidon said gently.**

"**Dad, I can help," I said. "I know I can. You're not going to hold out here much longer."**

"Thanks for believing in me son," Poseidon said sarcasticly, looking at Percy as he said this.

**A fireball launched into the sky from behind the enemy lines. I thought Poseidon would deflect it or something, but it landed on the outer corned of the yard and exploded, sending mermen tumbling through the water. Poseidon flinched as if he'd just been stabbed.**

"**Return to camp," he insisted. "And tell Chiron it's time."**

"**For what?"**

"**You must here the prophecy. The **_**entire **_**prophecy.'**

**I didn't need to asked him what prophecy. I'd been hearing about the "Great Prophecy" for years, but nobody would ever tell me the whole thing. All I knew was that I was supposed to make a decision that would decide the fate of the world – but no pressure.**

"Yep, no pressure at all." Percy said with a grin.

"**What if this **_**is**_** the decision?" I said. "Staying here to fight, or leaving? What if I leave and you.."**

**I couldn't say **_**die**_**. Gods weren't supposed to die, but I'd see it happen. Even if they didn't die, they could be reduced to nearly nothing, exiled, imprisoned in the depths of Tartarus like Kronos had been.**

**"Percy, you must go." Poseidon insisted. "I don't know what your final decision will be, but your fight lies in the world above. If nothing else, you must warn your friends at camp. Kronos knew your plans. You have a spy. We will hold here. We have no choice."**

**Tyson gripped my hand desperately. "I will miss you, brother!"**

**Watching us, our father seemed to age another ten years. "Tyson, you have word to do as well, my son. They need you in the armory."**

**Tyson pouted some more.**

**"I will go," he sniffled. He hugged me so hard he almost cracked my ribs. "Percy, be careful! Do not let monsters kill you dead!"**

**I tried to nod confidently, but it was too much for the big guy. He sobbed and swam away toward the armory, where his cousins were fixing spears and swords.**

"Poor Tyson," Percy repeated.

**"You should let him fight," I told my father. "He hates being stuck in the armory. Can't you tell?"**

**Poseidon shook his head. "It is bad enough I must send you into danger. Tyson is too young. I must protect him."**

"**You should trust him," I said. "Not try to protect him."**

**Poseidon's eyes flared. I thought I'd gone too far, but then he looked down at the mosaic and his shoulders sagged. On the tiles, the mermaid guy in the crawfish chariot was coming closer to the palace. **

**"Oceanus approaches," my father said. "I must meet him in battle."**

**I'd never been scared for a god before, but I didn't see how my dad could face this Titan and win.**

**"I will hold," Poseidon promised. "I will not give up my domain. Just tell me, Percy, do you still have the birthday gift I gave you last summer?"**

**I nodded and pulled out my camp necklace. It had a bead for every summer I'd been at Camp Half-Blood, but since last year I'd also kept a sand dollar on the cord. My father had given it to me for my fifteenth birthday. He'd told me that I would know when to "spend it," but so far I hadn't figured out what he meant. All I knew was that it didn't fit the vending machines in the school cafeteria.**

Lots of laughter and smiling was heard and seen.

**"The time is coming," he promised. "With luck, I will see you for your birthday next week, and we will have a proper celebration."**

**He smiled, and for a moment I saw the old light in his eyes.**

**Then the entire sea grew dark in front of us, like an inky storm was rolling in. Thunder crackled, which would've been impossible underwater. A huge icy presence was approaching us. I sensed a wave of fear roll through the armies below us.**

"**I must assume my true godly form," Poseidon said. "Go – and good luck, my son."**

**I wanted to encourage him, to hug him or something. but I knew better than to stick around. When a god assumes his true form, the power is so great that any mortal looking on him will disintegrate.**

**"Good-bye, Father," I managed.**

**Then I turned away. I willed the ocean currents to air me. Water swirled around me, and I shot toward the surface at speeds that would've cause any normal human to pop like a balloon.**

**When I looked back, all I could see were flashes of green and blue as my father fought the Titan, and the seas itself was torn apart by the two armies. **

"On that happy note, the chapter is done," Nico said. "Who's reading next?"

**Sorry this took so long. It's hard writing three stories at once. Two for on Fanfiction, and another one for Fictionpress.**

**Enjoy! Working on next chapter already!**


	4. Chapter 4: I Get A Sneak Peek Part 1

**Sorry this took so long! Here's the first part of I Get A Sneak Peek At My Death.**

'Here, I'll read next," Hermes said, reaching for the book, which Nico gladly handed over.

**I Get A Sneak Peek At My Death, **Hermes read with a grimace.

**If you want to be popular at Camp Half-Blood, don't come back from a mission with bad news.**

"Too true," Percy and a few others muttered.

**Word of my arrival spread as soon as I walked out of the ocean.**

**Our beach is on the North Shore of Long Island, it's enchanted so most people can't even see it.** **People don't just **_**appear**_** on the beach unless they're demigods or gods or really, really lost pizza guys. (It's happened – but that's another story.)**

"Ooh! What story?!" Sadie called out.

"Maybe when this is over," Percy told her, and Sadie pouted.

**Anyway, that afternoon the lookout on duty was Connor Stoll from the Hermes cabin.** **When he spotted me, he got so excited he fell out of his tree.**

Laughing echoed in the room.

Percy grinned. 'Leave it to Conner to make us laugh at such a serious time."

**Then he blew the conch horn to signal the camp and ran to greet me. Connor had a crooked smile that matched his crooked sense of humor.**

**He's a pretty nice guy,** **but you should always keep one hand on your wallet when he's around, and do not, under any circumstances; give him access to shaving cream unless you want to find your sleeping bag full of it.**

Even more laughter was now echoing around the room as everyone laughed.

"Personal experiance Perce?" Nico asked with a sly grin.

Percy grimaced. "Unfortunately yes."

More laughter once that was said.

**He's got curly brown hair and is a little shorter than his brother, Travis, which is the only way I can tell them apart.** **They are both so unlike my old enemy Luke it's hard to believe they're all sons of Hermes.**

The Greeks got sober at the mention of Luke, which did not go un-noticed by the Egyptions.

**"Percy!" he yelled. "What happened? Where's Beckendorf?"**

Hephaestus grimaced.

**Then he saw my expression and his smile melted. "Oh, no. Poor Silena. Holy Zeus, when she finds out…"**

Aphrodite's face twitched, like she was holding back tears. Her poor daughter. It seemed she liked Charles more then she'd realized originally. That would just make hearing how her daughter reacted so much worse.

**Together we climbed the sand dunes. A few hundred yards away, people were already streaming towards us, smiling and excited.**

"They're going to be very disappointed," Hades said gravely.

_**Percy's back, **_**they were probably thinking. **_**He's saved the day! Maybe he brought souvenirs!**_

"I'm sure that's exactly what they were thinking," Horus said sarcastically, while others nodded, smirking.

**I stopped at the dining pavilion and waited for them. No sense rushing down there to tell them what a loser I was.**

"Well, at least you've accepted it," Dionysus nodded, before clamping his mouth shut at a look from Poseidon, Nico, and surprisingly quite a few others.

**I gazed across the valley and tried to remember how Camp Half-Blood looked the first time I ever saw it. That seemed like a bajillion years ago.**

"Which, in reality, was, like, only 4 years ago," Percy mused.

**From the dining pavilion, you could see pretty much everything. Hills ringed the valley.**

**On the tallest, Half-Blood Hill, Thalia's pine tree stood with the Golden Fleece hanging from its branches.**

Zeus grimaced, once more reminded of his daughter's long fate as that tree.

**The guard dragon Peleus was so big now I could see him from here – curled around the tree trunk, sending up smoke signals as he snored.**

"Smoke signals," someone muttered, while others shook their heads, amused.

**To my right spread the woods. To my left, the canoe lake glittered and the climbing wall glowed from the lava pouring down its side. Twelve cabins – one for each Olympian god – Made a horseshoe pattern around the commons area. Farther south were the strawberry fields, **

"I'm going to the strawberry fields," Nico sang under his breath, exchanging a grin with Percy.

"Nothing is real," Percy muttered back with a smirk. "Nothing to get hung about."

"Strawberry fields forever." They both laughed quietly to themselves, while others looked at their quiet exchange with confused expressions.

Percy shook his head and motioned for Hermes to continue reading.

**the armory and the four-story Big House with its sky blue paint job and its bronze eagle weathervane. In some ways, the camp hadn't changed. But you couldn't see the war by looking at the buildings or the fields. You see it in all the faces of the demigods and satyrs and naiads coming up the hill.**

People frowned.

**There weren't as many at camp as four summers ago. Some had left and never come back. Some had died fighting. Others – we tried not to talk about them – had gone over to the enemy.**

**The ones who were still here were battle-hardened and weary. There was little laughter at camp these days. Even the Hermes cabin didn't play so many pranks. It's hard to enjoy practical jokes when your whole life feels like one.**

Hermes frowned. Children should always be free to play practical jokes on each other. That's why he didn't like war. It was too serious. Too dangerous. To deadly. It sucked the fun out of life to early. War was messed up, and he hated it.

Ares grimaced. These people were not used to war, like he was. He knew his children, at least, would be prepared to defend the camp, but honestly, he saw no hope in anybody else.

**Chiron galloped into the pavilion first, which was easy for him since he's a white stallion from the waist down. His beard had grown wilder over the summer. He wore a green T-shirt that said My Other Car Is a Centaur and a bow slung over his back.**

**"Percy!" he said. "Thank the gods. But where…"**

Percy sighed, while Nico grimaced and looked down. Hephaestus looked like he was going to burst into tears.

**Annabeth ran in right behind him and I'll admit my heart did a little relay race in my chest when I saw her.**

Percy blushed and ducked his head, while everyone- except Poseidon and Athena, who were glaring at each other- laughed.

**It's not that she tried to look good.**

More snickers reached Percy's ears, and he blushed even harder.

**We'd been doing so many combat missions lately, she hardly brushed her curly blond hair anymore, and she didn't care what clothes she was wearing – **

"That's horrible!" Aphrodite exclaimed.

**usually the same old orange camp T-shirt and jeans, and once in a while her bronze armor.**

**Her eyes were stormy gray. Most of the time we couldn't get through a conversation without trying to strangle each other. Still, just seeing her made me feel fuzzy in the head.**

More smirks and snickers, while Percy started to scowl and wish they'd shut up and continue reading.

**Last summer, before Luke had turned into Kronos and everything went sour, there had been a few times when I thought maybe… well, that we might get past the strangle-each-other phase.**

Artemis smiled to herself. From what she heard about this 'couple', they would be lucky if they got past the stab-each-other phase.

**"What happened?" She grabbed my arm. "Is Luke –"**

"That must be aggravating," Ares smirked, "Go through all that and the first person she asks about is Luke."

"Leave her alone," Hestia sighed, "She's just worried. And probably frantic too, if her behavior suggests anything."

People (Gods are counted as people!) nodded.

**"The ship blew up," I said. "He wasn't destroyed. I don't know where –"**

**Silena Beauregard pushed through the crowd. Her hair wasn't combed and she wasn't even wearing makeup, which wasn't like her.**

Aphrodite frowned and let out a sad sigh.

**"Where's Charlie?" she demanded, looking around like he might be hiding.**

"We wish he were," Iris (surpisingly) said sadly.

**I glanced at Chiron helplessly.**

**The old centaur cleared his throat. "Silena, my dear, let's talk about this at the Big House –"**

"Wrong answer," Carter muttered.

**"No," she muttered. "No. **_**No.**_**"**

Aphrodite sunk her head into Ares' shoulder, who patted her gingerly on the head.

**She started to cry, and the rest of us stood around, too stunned to speak. We'd already lost so many people over the summer, but this was the worst. With Beckendorf gone, it felt like someone had stole the anchor for the entire camp.**

All the Greeks knew what happened, but it was still really sad to hear it all over again.

**Finally Clarisse from the Ares cabin came forward. She put her arm around Silena. They had one of the strangest friendships ever – a daughter of the war of god and a daughter of the love goddess – but ever since Silena had given Clarisse advice last summer about her first boyfriend, Clarisse had decided she was Silena's personal bodyguard.**

A few people smiled sadly at this.

**Clarisse was dressed in her blood red combat armor, her brown hair tucked into a bandana. She was as big and beefy as a rugby player, with a permanent scowl on her face, but she spoke gently to Silena.**

Hera smiled warmly. This was what a family was supposed to be like; helping each other through rough times, against all odds.

**"Come on, girl," she said. "Let's get to the Big House. I'll make you some hot chocolate."**

"She's sweet," Hestia gave a teary smile.

A few nods of agreement came from the Egyptions, while the Greeks grieved over Beckondorf all over again.

**Everyone turned and wandered off in twos and threes, heading back to the cabins. Nobody was excited to see me now. Nobody wanted to hear about the blown-up ship.**

"Because we thought they would," Demeter rolled her eyes.

**Only Annabeth and Chiron stayed behind.**

"Naturally," Hades droned.

**Annabeth wiped a tear from her cheek. "I'm glad you're not dead, Seaweed Brain."**

Poseidon chuckled. "Me too."

**"Thanks," I said. "Me too."**

"There you go," Apollo chirped, "You guys are more similar than you thought."

**Chiron put a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sure you did everything you could, Percy. Will you tell us what happened?"**

**I didn't want to go through it again, but I told them the story, including my dream about the Titans.**

Zeus breathed a sigh, glad that Percy hadn't gone into details. He didn't think Hephaestus, Aphrodite, or even Hermes would be able to take hearing it all over again.

**I left out the detail about Nico. Nico had made me promise not to tell anybody about his plan until I made up my mind and the plan was so scary I didn't mind keeping it a secret.**

Nico grimaced. He could _not_ blame Percy. He'd be scared too. In fact, he was pretty scared.

The rest of the Olympians were looking at Nico, irritated. Why couldn't he just tell them already?

**Chiron gazed down at the valley. "We must call a war council immediately, to discuss this spy, and other matters."**

**"Poseidon mentioned another threat," I said. "Something even bigger than the **_**Princess Andromeda.**_

"Everybody's been mentioning another threat," Hades grumbled.

"You're just jealous, cause I know more than you do," Poseidon bragged.

"No you don't."

**I thought it might be that challenge the Titan had mentioned in my dream."**

**Chiron and Annabeth exchanged looks, like they knew something I didn't. I hated when they did that.**

"He does that with everybody," Dionysus grumbled, "And we all hate it."

**"We will discuss that also," Chiron promised.**

"Putting it off," Zeus noticed.

**"One more thing." I took a deep breath. "When I talked to my father, he said to tell you it's time. I need to know the full prophecy."**

**Chiron's shoulders sagged, but he didn't look surprised. "I've dreaded this day. Very well. Annabeth, we will show Percy the truth – all of it. Let's go to the attic."**

"The attic," Hera's face fell, "Isn't the prophecy written down?"

"Yes," Apollo replied, "But it's kept with my Oracle."

**I'd been to the Big House attic three times before, which was three times more than I wanted to.**

Nico shivered. He hated it up there!

**A ladder led up from the top of the staircase. I wondered how Chiron was going to get up there, being half horse and all, but he didn't try.**

**"You know where it is," he told Annabeth. "Bring it down, please."**

**Annabeth nodded. "Come on, Percy."**

**The sun was setting outside, so the attic was even darker and creepier than usual.**

"Hard to believe," Nico grimaced. He'd snuck up there, once, on a dare from Travis and Connor.

**Old hero trophies were stacked everywhere – dented shields, pickled heads in jars from various monsters, a pair of fuzzy dice on a bronze plaque that read: **_**STOLEN FROM CHRUSAOR'S HONDA CIVIC, BY GUS, SON OF HERMES, 1988.**_

"Gus was great," Hermes smiled proudly. "Stole it in record time too."

**I picked up a curved bronze sword so badly bent it looked like the letter 'M'. I could still see green stains on the metal from the magical poison that used to cover it.**

**The tag was dated last summer. It read: **_**Scimitar of Kampê, destroyed in the Battle of the Labyrinth.**_

**"You remember Briares throwing those boulders?" I asked. Annabeth gave me a grudging smile. "And Grover causing a Panic?"**

"Really?"

"Yep."

**We locked eyes. I thought of a different time last summer, under Mount St. Helens, when Annabeth thought I was going to die and she kissed me.**

Percy didn't blush this time, he just grinned wildly.

**She cleared her throat and looked away. "Prophecy."**

**"Right." I put down the scimitar. "Prophecy."**

"Yes," Athena warned, staring at Percy's grin, "Let's not get distracted."

**We walked over to the window. On a three-legged stool sat the Oracle – a shriveled female mummy in a tie-dyed dress.** **Tufts of black hair clung to her skull. Glassy eyes stared out of her leathery face. Just looking at her made my skin crawl.**

People grimaced. To the Egyptions, it sounded really gross and creepy. But then again, they mummified their dead, so they supposed it wasn't so bad.

**If you wanted to leave camp during the summer, it used to be you had to come out here to get a quest. This summer that rule had been tossed. Campers left all the time on combat missions.** **We had no choice if we wanted to stop Kronos.**

"That's true," Demeter conceded.

**Still, I remembered too well the strange green mist – the Spirit of the Oracle – that lived inside the mummy. She looked lifeless now, but whenever she spoke a prophecy, she moved.**

People (the Greeks more specifically) shuddered.

**Sometimes fog gushed out of her mouth and created strange shapes. Once, she'd even left the attic and taken a little zombie stroll into the woods to deliver a message.**

"Really," Hades gaped, along with everybody else.

**I wasn't sure what she'd do for the "Great Prophecy." I had expected her to start tap dancing or something.**

Zeus snorted. This boy was nuts if he thought that. Then again, anything was possible.

**But she just sat there like she was dead – which she was.**

"No really," someone muttered, just loud enough for everyone to hear.

**"I never understood this," I whispered.**

**"What?" Annabeth asked.**

**"Why it's a mummy."**

"Nobody understands that," Hermes griped. Maybe if he did, he wouldn't have tried what he did with May.

**"Percy, she didn't used to be a mummy. For thousands of years the spirit of the Oracle lived inside a beautiful maiden.** **The spirit would be passed on from generation to generation. Chiron told me **_**she**_** was like that fifty years ago." Annabeth pointed at the mummy. "But she was the last."**

Hera grimaced. She sure wasn't a beautiful maiden now.

**"What happened?"**

**Annabeth started to say something, then apparently changed her mind. "Let's just do our job and get out of here."**

**I looked nervously at the Oracle's withered face. "So what now?"**

**Annabeth approached the mummy and held out her palms. "O Oracle, the time is at hand. I ask for the Great Prophecy."**

Everyone was grimacing in anticipation now, sitting on the edge of their seats.

**I braced myself, but the mummy didn't move. Instead Annabeth approached and unclasped one of its necklaces. I'd never paid too much attention to its jewelry before.** **I figured it was just hippie love beads and stuff.**

"My Oracle does not wear Hippie love beads," Apollo exclaimed, but he was drowned out by the laughter of his family members. He pouted when they quieted down. "You guys suck."

This caused more laughter.

**But when Annabeth turned toward me, she was holding a leather pouch – like a Native American medicine pouch on a cord braided with feathers.**

**She opened the bag and took out a roll of parchment no bigger than her pinky.**

"Well, that's anticlimactic," Dionysus sulked. And to think he'd gotten excited for that.

**"No way," I said. "You mean all these years, I've been asking about this stupid prophecy and it's been right there around her neck?"**

**"The time wasn't right," Annabeth said. "Believe me, Percy, I read this when I was ten years old, and I still have nightmares about it."**

Zeus frowned. He couldn't help but be glad again that it was Percy that had to go through this, not his daughter.

**"Great," I said. "Can I read it now?"**

"Impatient much," someone from the Egyption side snorted, causing a few smirks of amusement.

**"Downstairs at the war council," Annabeth said. "Not in front of... you know."**

**I looked at the glassy eyes of the Oracle, and I decided not to argue. We headed downstairs to join the others.**

"Why not?" Athena asked. Looking at Apollo's creepy smiled, she added quickly, "Never mind; I don't want to know."

**I didn't know it then, but it would be the last time I ever visited the attic.**

Percy smiled, thinking of Rachel.

**The senior counselors had gathered around the Ping-Pong table. Don't ask me why, but the rec room had become the camp's informal headquarters for war councils.**

"That's ironic," Nico snickered.

**When Annabeth, Chiron and I came in, though, it looked more like a shouting match.**

**Clarisse was still in full battle gear. **

"Of course a daughter of Ares would be at the center of it," Hestia shook her head in dismay.

**Her electric spear was strapped to her back. (Actually, her **_**second**_** electric spear, since I'd broken the first one. She called the spear "Maimer." Behind her back, everybody else called it "Lamer.") She had her boar-shaped helmet under on arm and had a knife at her belt.**

Ares was glaring at Percy through that whole paragraph.

**She was in the midst of yelling at Michael Yew,**

"My son," Apollo realized.

**The new head counselor for Apollo, which looked kind of funny since Clarisse was a foot taller. Michael had taken over the Apollo cabin after Lee Fletcher died in battle last summer.**

And then he flinched.

**Michael stood four feet six, with a pointy nose and scrunched-up features – either because he was scowling or because he spent too much time looking down the shaft of an arrow.**

**"It's **_**our**_** loot!" he yelled, standing on his tiptoes so he could get in Clarisse's face. "If you don't like it, you can kiss my quiver!"**

"Kiss my quiver," Hermes repeated, laughing.

"They're arguing over _loot_ at a time like this?" Hephaestus groaned.

**Around the table, people were trying not to laugh – the Stoll brothers, Pollux from the Dionysus cabin, Katie Gardner from Demeter.**

A few scattered smiles were seen, while everyone else frowned.

**Even Jake Mason, the hastily appointed new counselor from Hephaestus, managed a faint smile.**

**Only Silena Beauregard didn't pay any attention. She sat beside Clarisse and stared vacantly at the Ping-Pong net. Her eyes were red and puffy. A cup of hot chocolate sat untouched in front of her.**

Percy looked guilty. If only he had stopped Beckondorf from dying.

**It seemed unfair that she had to be here. I couldn't believe Clarisse and Michael standing over her, arguing about something as stupid as loot, when she'd just lost Beckendorf.**

People nodded, surprisingly even Ares.

**"STOP IT!" I yelled. "What are you guys doing?"**

**Clarisse glowered at me. "Tell Michael not to be a selfish jerk."**

Apollo's eyes narrowed.

**"Oh, that's perfect, coming from you," Michael said.**

**"The only reason I'm here is to support Silena!" Clarisse shouted. "Otherwise I'd be back in my cabin."**

"They really are good friends, aren't they," Artemis said dejectedly. That made the whole thing worse, too.

**"What are you talking about?" I demanded.**

**Pollux cleared his throat. "Clarisse has refused to speak to any us, until her, um, issue is resolved. She hasn't spoken for three days."**

"Awesome," Nico muttered under his breath, and Percy snickered.

**"It's been wonderful," Travis Stoll said wistfully.**

The gods snorted, except for Ares, who glared at them all.

**"What issue?" I asked.**

**Clarisse turned to Chiron. "You're in charge, right? Does my cabin get what we want or not?"**

**Chiron shuffled his hooves. "My dear, as I've already explained, Michael is correct. Apollo's cabin has the best claim. Besides, we have more important matters –"**

"Much more important," Hestia agreed seriously.

**"Sure," Clarisse snapped. "Always more important matters than what Ares needs. We're just supposed to show up and fight when you need us, and not complain?"**

Ares frowned. He wasn't sure exactly what his daughter was so mad about, but whatever it was, she was being a tiny bit extreme. A tiny bit.

**"That would be nice," Connor Stoll muttered.**

Ares opened his mouth to yell, but he felt Aphrodite giggling a bit, for the first time this chapter, so he let it go. For now.

**Clarisse gripped her knife. "Maybe I should ask Mr. D –"**

**"As you know," Chiron interrupted his tone slightly angry now,**

"It takes a lot to get Chiron mad," Demeter said, impressed.

**"Our director, Dionysus, is busy with the war. He can't be bothered with this."**

"And I wouldn't care either way," Dionysus said boredly, and everyone rolled their eyes. Typical Dionysus.

**"I see," Clarisse said. "And the senior counselors? Are **_**any**_** of you going to side with me?"**

**Nobody was smiling now. None of them met Clarisse's eyes.**

**"Fine." Clarisse turned to Silena. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get into this when you've just lost... Anyway, I apologize. To **_**you**_**. Nobody else."**

"That's sweet," Aphrodite sniffed.

**Silena didn't seem to register her words.**

**Clarisse threw her knife on the Ping-Pong table. "All of you can fight this war without Ares. Until I get satisfaction, no one in my cabin is lifting a finger to help. Have fun dying."**

"Well…" Hermes tried to think of something to say to that. "That was… rude."

Ares grimaced. Even he had to admit the was an inconsiderate thing to say, what with the war going on and her best friend's boyfriend having just died himself.

**The counselors were all too stunned to say anything as Clarisse stormed out of the room.**

**Finally Michael Yew said, "Good riddance."**

"Actually," Hermes grimaced, "This is a bit of a disaster. You just lost an entire cabin of Ares warriors. This was terrible!"

**"Are you kidding?" Katie Gardner protested. "This is a disaster!"**

"See? She agrees!"

**"She can't be serious," Travis said. "Can she?"**

**Chiron sighed. "Her pride has been wounded. She'll calm down eventually." But he didn't sound convinced.**

**I wanted to ask what the heck Clarisse was so mad about, but I looked at Annabeth and she mouthed the words **_**I'll tell you later.**_

**"Now," Chiron continued, "if you please, counselors. Percy has brought something I think you should hear. Percy – the Great Prophecy."**

The Egyptions leaned forward in anticipation. The Great Prophecy. Finally.

**Annabeth handed me the parchment. It felt dry and old, and my fingers fumbled with the string. I uncurled the paper, trying not to rip it, **

"That would be bad," Artemis said wryly.

**and began to read:**

**"**_**A half-blood of the eldest dogs…'**_

"HEY!" The Olympians screamed.

Percy blushed and muttered a sorry.

**"Er, Percy?" Annabeth interrupted. "That's**_** gods. **_**Not**_** dogs."**_

**"Oh, right," I said. Being dyslexic is one mark of a demigod, but sometimes I really hate it. The more nervous I am, the worse my reading gets.**

_**'A half-blood of the eldest gods… shall reach sixteen against all odds…'**_

**I hesitated, staring at the next lines. A cold feeling started in my fingers as if the paper was freezing.**

_**'And see the world in endless sleep,**_

Every one of the Egyptions held their breath, nervous to see what the rest said. The Greeks just looked bored.

_**The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.'**_

**Suddenly Riptide seemed heavier in my pocket. A cursed blade? Chiron once told me Riptide had brought many people sorrow. Was it possible my own sword could get me killed?**

**And how could the world fall into endless sleep, unless that meant death?**

**"Percy," Chiron urged. "Read the rest."**

**My mouth felt like it was full of sand, but I spoke the last two lines.**

_**'A single choice shall end his days.**_

"Well that's just a boat load of positive fun, now isn't it?" Nico said sarcastically.

_**Olympus to per – pursue –"**_

A few snickers.

**"**_**Preserve**_**," Annabeth said gently. "It means to **_**save."**_

"I think he knows," Demeter chuckled weakly.

**"I know what it means," I grumbled. "**_**Olympus to preserve or raze."**_

"But raising something is good, isn't it?"

"Raze as in R-A-Z-E, is not, which is the word in the prophecy."

"Oh."

**The room was silent. Finally Connor Stoll said, "Raise is good, isn't it?"**

**"Not**_** raise**_**," Silena said. Her voice was hollow, but I was startled to hear her speak at all. "R-a-z-e means **_**destroy**_**."**

**"Obliterate," Annabeth said. "Annihilate. Turn to rubble."**

The gloomy mood returned.

**"Got it." My heart felt like lead. "Thanks."**

**Everybody was looking at me – with concern, or pity, or maybe a little fear. **

"Or you're flattering yourself," Artemis shrugged, "Either or."

**Chiron closed his eyes as if he were saying a prayer. In horse form, his head almost brushed the lights in the rec room.**

**"You see now, Percy, why we thought it best not to tell you the whole prophecy? You've had enough on your shoulders –"**

"But he probably should have known his future," Aphrodite sighed.

**"Without realizing I was going to die in the end anyways?" I said. "Yeah, I get it."**

"That's… discouraging," Hades muttered.

Hera looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "You think?"

**Chiron gazed at me sadly. The guy was three thousand years old. He'd seen hundreds of heroes die. He might not like it, but he was used to it. He probably knew better than to try to reassure me.**

**"Percy," Annabeth said. "You know prophecies always have double meanings. It might not literally mean you die."**

"Aw," Dionysus said, "She doesn't want you to die." When everyone stared at him like he'd grown another head, he added, "Someone was going to say it anyway! I thought 'might as well speed up the process'."

"I'm sure that's what it was," Hephaestus snickered.

**"Sure," I said. "**_**A single choice shall end his days.**_** That has tons of meanings, right?**

**"Maybe we can stop it," Jake Mason offered. **

"It's kind of hard to stop a prophecy," Aphrodite said.

**"**_**The hero's soul, cursed blade shall reap.**_** Maybe we could find the cursed blade and destroy it. Sounds like Kronos's scythe, right?"**

**I hadn't thought about that, but it didn't matter if the cursed blade was Riptide or Kronos's scythe. Either way, I doubted we could stop the prophecy.**

**A blade was supposed to reap my soul. As a general rule, I preferred not to have my soul reaped.**

Everyone couldn't help laughing a bit at that.

**"Perhaps we should let Percy think about these lines," Chiron said. "He needs time –"**

**"No." I folded up the prophecy and shoved it into my pocket. I felt defiant and angry, though I wasn't sure who I was angry with. "I don't need time. If I die, I die. I can't worry about that, right?"**

Demeter smiled, shaking her head, "You are truly a martyr, Percy."

**Annabeth hands were shaking a little. She wouldn't meet my eyes.**

**"Let's move on," I said. "We've got other problems. We've got a spy."**

"Well, you broke that to them easy," Hestia cheeked.

**Michael Yew scowled. "A spy?"**

**I told them what had happened on the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** – how Kronos had known we were coming, how he'd shown me the silver scythe pendant he'd used to communicate with someone at camp.**

**Silena started to cry again and Annabeth put an arm around her shoulders.**

**"Well," Connor Stoll said uncomfortably, "We've suspected there might be a spy for years, right?** **Somebody kept passing information to Luke – like the location of the Golden Fleece a couple of years ago. It must be somebody who knew him well."**

**Maybe subconsciously, he glanced at Annabeth. She'd known Luke better than anyone, of course, but Connor looked away quickly. "Um, I mean, it could be anybody."**

"Don't blame my daughter for this," Athena huffed.

"We know it's not her fault anyway," Hermes soothed, then continued.

**"Yes." Katie Gardner frowned at the Stoll brothers. She'd disliked them ever since they'd decorated the grass roof of the Demeter cabin with chocolate Easter bunnies. **

"Doesn't sound so bad," Hestia said positively, while Demeter fumed silently in the seat next to her. "It's just chocolate."

"It's the principle of the thing."

**"Like one of Luke's siblings."**

**Travis and Connor both started arguing with her.**

**"Stop!" Silena banged the table so hard her hot chocolate spilled. "Charlie's dead and... and you're all arguing like little kids!" She put her head down and began to sob.**

**Hot chocolate trickled off the Ping-Pong table. Everybody looked ashamed. "She's right," Pollux said at last. "Accusing each other doesn't help.**

"Look," Hera piped up, "He agrees."

**We need to keep our eyes open for a sliver necklace with a scythe charm. If Kronos had one, the spy probably does too."**

**Michael Yew grunted. "We need to find this spy before we plan our next operation. Blowing up the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** won't stop Kronos forever."**

**"No indeed," Chiron said. "In fact his next assault is already on the way."**

**I scowled. "You mean the 'bigger threat' Poseidon mentioned?"**

**He and Annabeth looked at each other like, **_**it's time.**_** Did I mention I hate it when they do that?**

"You might have," Artemis snorted.

**"Percy," Chiron said, "we didn't want to tell you until you returned to camp. You needed a break with your… mortal friends."**

**Annabeth blushed. It dawned on me that she I'd been hanging out with Rachel, and I felt guilty.** **Then I felt angry that I felt guilty. I was allowed to have friends outside camp, right? It wasn't like…**

"Like you're married," Aphrodite finished with a giggle, "Even though it sounds like it.

That brought pictures of Annabeth in a wedding dress to mind that he would deny he ever had later. Nico gave him a smirk, as if he could guess what he was thinking about.

**"Tell me what's happened," I said.**

**Chiron picked up a bronze goblet from the snack table. He tossed water onto the hot plate were he usually melted nacho cheese. Steam billowed up, making a rainbow in the fluorescent lights.**

**Chiron fished a golden drachma out of his pouch, tossed it through the mist, and muttered, "O Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, show us the threat."**

"More like, show us the mega super death machine," Zeus muttered.

"But it's still a threat," Poseidon grimaced.

**The mist shimmered. I saw the familiar image of a smoldering volcano – Mount St. Helens. As I watched, the side of the mountain exploded. Fire, ash, and lava rolled out.**

**A newscaster's voice was saying "- **_**even larger than last year's eruption, and geologists warn that the mountain may not be done."**_

The Greek gods shuddered. They _really _hated Typhoon.

**I knew about last year's eruption. I'd caused it. But this explosion was much worse. The mountain tore itself apart, collapsing inward, and an enormous form rose out of the smoke and lava like it was emerging from a manhole.**

**I hoped the Mist would keep the humans from seeing it clearly, because what I saw would've caused panic and riots across the entire United States.**

**The giant was bigger than anything I'd ever encountered. Even my demigod eyes couldn't make out its exact form through the ash and fire, but it was vaguely humanoid and so huge it could have used the Chrysler Building as a baseball bat.**

**The mountain shook with a horrible rumbling, as if the monster was laughing.**

"He would have reason to," Dionysus grimaced.

**"It's him," I said. "Typhoon."**

**I was seriously hoping Chiron would say something good, like **_**No, that's our huge friend Leroy! He's going to help us!**_

That broke the incredibly serious mood again, and they laughed a little.

**But no such luck. He simply nodded. "The most horrible monster of all, the biggest single threat the gods ever face. He has been freed under the mountain at last.** **But this scene is from two days ago.**

_**Here**_** is what is happening today." Chiron waved his hand and the image changed. I saw a bank of storm clouds rolling across the Midwest plains.** **Lightning flickered. Lines of tornadoes destroyed everything in their path – ripping up houses and trailers, tossing cars around like Matchbox toys.**

Everyone grimaced at the mention of the destruction caused.

_**"Monumental floods," **_**an announcer was saying. "**_**Five states declared disaster areas as the freak storm system sweeps east, continuing its path of destruction." **_**The cameras zoomed in on a column of storm bearing down on some Midwest City.**

**I couldn't tell which one. Inside the storm I could see the giant – just small glimpses of his true form: a smoky arm, a dark clawed hand the size of a city block.**

**Other smaller forms darted through the clouds, circling the monster. **

**I saw flashes of light, and I realized the giant was trying to swarm them. I squinted and thought I saw a golden chariot flying into the blackness. **

"That would be Apollo."

**The some kind of huge bird – a monstrous owl – dived in to attack the giant.**

"And Athena."

"We get it, Hephaestus," Hermes said wryly.

**"Are those… the gods?" I said.**

**"Yes, Percy," Chiron said. "They have been fighting him for days now, trying to slow him down. But Typhoon is marching forward – toward New York. Toward Olympus."**

**I let that sink in. "How long until he gets here?"**

**"Unless the gods can stop him? Perhaps five days. Most of the Olympians are there... except your father, who has a war of his own to fight."**

**"But then who's guarding Olympus?"**

**Connor Stoll shook his head. "If Typhoon gets to New York, it won't matter who's guarding Olympus."**

**I thought about Kronos's words on the ship: **_**I would love to see the terror in your eyes when you realize how I will destroy Olympus.**_ **Was this what he was talking about: an attack by Typhoon? **

"Nope," Percy said, popping the 'p'.

**It was sure terrifying enough. But Kronos was always following us, misdirecting our attention. This seemed too obvious for him. And in my dreams, the golden Titan had talked about several more challenges to come, as if Typhoon were only the first.**

**"It's a trick," I said. "We have to warn the gods. Something else is going to happen."**

**Chiron looked at me gravely. "Something worse than Typhoon? I hope not."**

"He's too positive," Demeter sighed. "War isn't positive."

**"We have to defend Olympus," I insisted. "Kronos has another attack planned."**

**"He did," Travis Stoll reminded me, "But you sunk his ship."**

"They're all too positive," Dionysus agreed.

**Second part will be out REALLY soon. Promise! Probably another half hour after this one!**

**Please reveiw. It makes me happy, and helps me write faster, knowing you guys like the story. Flames are allowed, but be prepared to get chewed out at the beginning of the next chapter/ the next part of this/a chapter. Just the way I work.**


	5. Chapter 5: I Get A Sneak Peek Part 2

**Here's part 2! Enjoy!**

Sighing, Hermes continued reading. Though he really hoped the chapter was done soon.

**Everyone was looking at me. They wanted some good news. They wanted to believe that at least I'd give them a little bit of hope.**

**I glanced at Annabeth.** **I could tell we were thinking the same thing: What if the **_**Princess Andromeda**_** was a ploy?**

"Then my son died for nothing," Hephaestus said sadly.

"He died to make the world a better place," Ares said strongly. Even if he didn't like Hephaestus, he hated this chapter enough to comfort him a bit. "He died for us."

**What if Kronos **_**let**_** us blow up the ship so we'd lower our guard? But I wasn't going to say that in front of Silena. Her boyfriend had sacrificed himself for that mission.**

"Thank you, Percy," Aphrodite said quietly.

**"Maybe you're right," I said, though I didn't believe it.**

**I tried to imagine how things could get much worse. The gods were in the Midwest fighting a huge monster that had almost defeated them once before.**

**Poseidon was under siege and losing a war against the sea Titan Oceanus.**

**Kronos was still out there somewhere. Olympus was virtually undefended. The demigods of Camp Half-Blood were on our own with a spy in our midst.**

**Oh, and according to the ancient prophecy, I was going to die when I turned sixteen – which happened to be in five days, the exact same time Typhoon was supposed to hit New York. Almost forgot that.**

**"Well," Chiron said, "I think that's enough for the night."**

"Understatement," Ares muttered.

**He waved his hand and the steam dissipated. The stormy battle of Typhoon and the gods disappeared.**

**"That's an understatement," I muttered.**

**And the war council adjourned.**

"The chapter's done," Hermes said.

"I think it would be best if we ate first, before we continue," Zues said.

Most nodded.

"Ok, so first dinner, then we continue."

**There! Ok, you're probably thinking 'what's the point on making a part 2 when the chapter was almost done?' Well, it was becoming very long, and I didn't want to have to upload something that long, so I made a mini chapter.**

**Anyways, please reveiw!**


	6. Chapter 6: Break 1

**The next chapter! Enjoy!**

**Just a short little filler.**

"Also, we should rest up too, then try and finish this book tomorrow. Then maybe we won't fall asleep half way through it," Zeus continued.

Almost everyone agreed, so they went with Zeus's plan.

As soon as they agreed a table _covered _in plates filled with food appeared. The Gods barely ate anything, but Percy, Nico, Carter, and Sadie definitely did.

As soon as the demi-gods/Egyptian kids finished everyone's clothes were turned into P. J's. And as soon as _that _happened several beds appeared, one for each person/God/Demi-God/Egyptian/Magician.

**THIS IS A LINE. THIS IS A LINE. THIS IS A LINE. THIS IS A LINE. THIS IS A LINE.**

When everyone woke up, ate breakfast, and got comfortable, Hermes asked, "Who's reading next?" and held the book up.

"I will," Sadie said, surprising most people.

Hermes tossed the book to Sadie.

"**We Burn A Metal Shroud,**" Sadie began.

**Next chapter should be out in about an hour or two hopefully. But definitely tonight. Hoped you liked this little chapter :)**


	7. Chapter 7: We Burn A Metal Shroud Part 1

**Ok, fourth chappie! Enjoy everyone!**

"**We Burn A Metal Shroud,**" Sadie began, causing Hephaestus to flinch slightly and look down.

**I dreamed Rachel Elizabeth Dare was throwing darts at my picture.**

**She was standing in her room… Okay, back up. I have to explain that Rachel doesn't have a room.** **She has the top floor of her family's mansion, which is a renovated brownstone in Brooklyn.**

"Cool," Thalia looked impressed, as did everyone else.

**Her "room" is a huge loft with industrial lighting and floor-to-ceiling windows. It's about twice as big as my mom's apartment.**

Poseidon, who had been to the apartment before, tilted his head, trying to imagine that. Definitely not as big as Olympus or his palace, but still pretty big.

**Some alternative rock was blaring from her paint-covered Bose docking system. As far as I could tell, Rachel's only rule about music was that no two songs on her I-Pod could sound the same, and they all had to be strange.**

"This girl is awesome," Apollo grinned, and Sadie agreed with him.

**She wore a kimono, and her hair was frizzy, like she'd been sleeping.**

"A kimono?" Artemis blinked, and several people just shrugged.

**Her bed was messed up. Sheets hung over a bunch of artist's easels.**** Dirty clothes and old energy bar wrappers were strewn around the floor, but when you've got a room that big, the mess doesn't look so bad.**

"And if you've got a room like Percy's the mess looks terrible," Nico chuckled.

"It's not that bad," Percy defended.

"And don't you look at me that way, Mr. I-leave-Happy-Meals-strewn-all-over-the-ground," Percy grumbled at Nico.

**Out the windows you could see the entire nighttime skyline of Manhattan. The picture she was attacking was a painting of me standing over the giant Antaeus.**

"She painted it?" Zeus asked.

"Search me," Percy shrugged.

**Rachel had painted it a couple of months ago. My expression in the picture was fierce-disturbing, even so it was hard to tell if I was the good guy or the bad guy, but Rachel said I'd looked just like that after the battle.**

"**Demigods," Rachel muttered as she threw another dart at the canvas. **

"She's certainly mad at you," Poseidon chuckled, along with several other people.

"I think we got that from the dartboard," Hades rolled his eyes.

"**And their stupid quests." Most of the darts bounced off, but a few stuck. One hung off my chin like a goatee.**

This lead to Ares trying to picture the demigod with a goatee, and then bursting out into laughter (along with almost everyone else). Hey, it was a funny mental image!

**Someone pounded on her bedroom door. "Rachel!" a man shouted. "What in the world are you doing? Turn off that-" Rachel scooped up her remote control and shut off the music.**"**Come in!" Her dad walked in, scowling and blinking from the light. He had rust-colored hair a little darker than Rachel's.** **It was smashed on one side like he'd lost a fight with his pillow. **

Hestia smiled, shaking her head, "Or he was just sleeping. You certainly have some interesting descriptions in this book."

She wondered how, should she come into the story, he would describe her.

**His blue silk pajamas had "WD" monogrammed on the pocket.**

**Seriously, who has monogrammed pajamas?**

"**What is going on?" he demanded. "It's three in the morning." **

Aphrodite laughed. "That must have been a shock."

**"Couldn't sleep," Rachel said. On the painting, a dart fell off my face. Rachel hid the rest behind her back, but Mr. Dare noticed. **

**"So… I take it your friend isn't coming to St. Thomas?"**

"It's a safe assumption," Horus snorted.

**That's what Mr. Dare called me. Never Percy. Just your friend. Or young man if he was talking to me, which he rarely did.**

"Young man," Dionysus mused. He liked it. If he were to start calling everyone at camp that, it would eliminate the tedious task of memorizing names (not that he bothered to anyways).

**Rachel knit her eyebrows. "I don't know." **

**"We leave in the morning," her dad said. "If he hasn't made up his mind yet-" **

**"He's probably not coming," Rachel said miserably.** "**Happy?"**

"Poor girl," Demeter sighed. "She could use some cereal."

The other gods rolled their eyes behind her back.

**Mr. Dare put his hands behind his back. He paced the room with a stern expression. I imagined he did that in the boardroom of his land development company and made his employees nervous.**

"**Are you still having bad dreams?" he asked. "Headaches?"**

**Rachel threw her darts on the floor. "I should never have told you about that."**

"**I'm your father," he said. "I'm worried about you."**

"I barely know him, and I already highly doubt that," Hades muttered.

"**Worried about the family's reputation," Rachel muttered.**

Poseidon grimaced. "It must be terrible, living with a man like that."

**Her father didn't react-maybe because he'd heard that comment before, or maybe because it was true.**

"Probably both," Hera sighed.

"**We could call Dr. Arkwright," he suggested.** "**He helped you get through the death of your hamster." **

"And that relates to this how?" Hermes asked, confused.

**"I was six then," She said.** "**And no, Dad, I don't need a therapist. I just…" She shook her head helplessly.**

"Ah, he's a psychiatrist," Apollo nodded.

**Her father stopped in front of the windows. He gazed at the New York skyline as if he owned it-which wasn't true. He only owned part of it.**

"That's great for him," Artemis glowered. Who was he to make his daughter go somewhere she didn't want to? To control her life. Men…

"**It will be good for you to get away," He decided. "You've had some unhealthy influences."**

"**I'm not going to Clarion Ladies Academy," Rachel said. "And my friends are none of your business."**

"You go girl," Hestia huffed.

**Mr. Dare smiled, but it wasn't a warm smile. It was more like, Someday you'll realize how silly you sound.**

"**Try to get some sleep," he urged. "We'll be at the beach by tomorrow night. It will be fun."**

"**Fun," Rachel repeated. "Lots of fun." Her father exited the room. He left the door open behind him.**

"That was awkward," Ares made a face. He wanted to know about the war plans, not some father – daughter spat. He stayed silent though, because his girlfriend would probably slap him upside the head if he did anything otherwise.

**Rachel stared at the portrait of me. Then she walked to the easel next to it, which was covered in a sheet.**

"**I hope they're dreams," she said. She uncovered the easel. On it was a hastily sketched charcoal, but Rachel was a good artist.** **The picture was definitely Luke as a young boy.**

Hermes started. How could she know something like that?

**He was about nine years old, with a wide grin and no scar on his face. I had no idea how Rachel could've known what he looked like back then, but the portrait was so good I had a feeling she wasn't guessing.**

"Creepy," someone muttered.

**From what I knew about Luke's life (which wasn't much), the picture showed him just before he'd found out he was a half-blood and had run away from home.**

**Rachel stared at the portrait. Then she uncovered the next easel. This picture was even more disturbing. It showed the Empire State Building with lightning all around it. In the distance a dark storm was brewing, with a huge hand coming out of the clouds.**

"Obviously," Athena murmured, "Us in the middle of battle, with Typhon heading close."

**At the base of the building a crowd had gathered… But it wasn't a normal crowd of tourists and pedestrians. I saw spears, javelins, and banners the trappings of an army.**

"And that would be us." Percy and Nico said.

"**Percy," Rachel muttered, as if she knew I was listening, "What is going on?"**

**The dream faded, and the last thing I remember was wishing I could answer her question. The next morning, I wanted to call her, but there were no phones at camp.** **Dionysus and Chiron didn't need a landline. They just called Olympus with an Iris-message whenever they needed something.**

"Which is not often," Dionysus huffed.

"And mostly only to complain," Zeus grumbled.

"Chiron complains?" Poseidon raised an eyebrow.

"No. Just Dionysus."

"And always about important things!" Dionysus protested. The Greek Gods just snorted.

**And when demigods use cell phones, the signals agitate every monster within a hundred miles. It's like sending up a flare: Here I am! Please rearrange my face!**

"You know, you have a way of making something that should be serious very funny," Hestia laughed with everyone else.

**Even within the safe borders of camp, that's not the kind of advertising we wanted to do. Most demigods (except for Annabeth and a few others) don't even own cell phones.**

**And I definitely couldn't tell Annabeth, "Hey, let me borrow your phone so I can call Rachel!"**

**To make the call, I would've had to leave camp and walk several miles to the nearest convenience store. Even if Chiron let me go, by the time I got there, Rachel would've been on the plane to St. Thomas. I ate a depressing breakfast by myself at the Poseidon table.**

"It's too bad Tyson isn't there," Aphrodite said sympathetically.

**I kept staring at the fissure in the marble floor where two years ago Nico had banished a bunch of bloodthirsty skeletons to the Underworld.**

"You make me sound so sinister," Nico smirked.

"You looked pretty sinister," Percy admitted.

**The memory didn't exactly improve my appetite. **

"Why not?" Ares snickered.

**After breakfast, Annabeth and I walked down to inspect the cabins. Actually, it was Annabeth's turn for inspection. My morning chore was to sort through reports for Chiron. But since we both hated our jobs, we decided to do them together so it wouldn't be so heinous.**

**We started at the Poseidon cabin, which was basically just me. I'd made my bunk bed that morning (well, sort of) and straightened the Minotaur horn on the wall, so I gave myself a four out of five. **

"Really?" Hephaestus snorted, "I'd give you a two."

**Annabeth made a face.**

"**You're being generous." She used the end of her pencil to pick up an old pair of running shorts. I snatched them away. **

"Gross," Demeter groaned.

"Men," Artemis huffed again.

**"Hey, give me a break. I don't have Tyson cleaning up after me this summer." **

**"Three out of five," Annabeth said.**

"Now she's being generous," Hera pulled another face.

**I knew better than to argue, so we moved along. I tried to skim through Chiron's stack of reports as we walked.**

**There were messages from demigods, nature spirits, and satyrs all around the country, writing about the latest monster activity. They were pretty depressing, and my ADHD brain did not like concentrating on depressing stuff.**

"_Nobody's_ brain likes concentrating on depressing stuff," Hestia corrected.

**Little battles were raging everywhere. Camp recruitment was down to zero. Satyrs were having trouble finding new demigods and bringing them to Half-Blood Hill because so many monsters were roaming the country.**

**Our friend Thalia, **

**who led the Hunters of Artemis,** **hadn't been heard from in months, and if Artemis knew what had happened to them, she wasn't sharing information.**

"They're probably fine," Ares shrugged.

"No news is good news," Dionysus agreed.

**We visited the Aphrodite cabin, which of course got a five out of five.** **The beds were perfectly made. The clothes in everyone's footlockers were color coordinated. Fresh flowers bloomed on the windowsills. **

Aphrodite smiled smugly.

**I wanted to dock a point because the whole place reeked of designer perfume, **

And now she was glaring at Percy.

**but Annabeth ignored me.**

"**Great job as usual, Silena, " Annabeth said. Silena nodded listlessly. The wall behind her bed was decorated with pictures of Beckendorf. **

"Can we stop commenting, just for a short second?" Hephaestus pleaded. He wanted to get through this part as quickly and painlessly as possible, and comments weren't going to help.

Zeus nodded, glaring at everyone until they did the same.

**She sat on her bunk with a box of chocolates on her lap, and I remembered that her dad owned a chocolate store in the Village, which was how he'd caught the attention of Aphrodite. **

**"You want a bonbon?" Silena asked.** "**My dad sent them. He thought-he thought they might ****cheer me up."**

"**Are they any good?" I asked. **

**She shook her head. "They taste like cardboard." **

**I didn't have anything against cardboard, so I tried one.**

(People gave Percy odd looks)

Hades grimaced. "Cardboard does _not_ taste good."

The other gods stared at him, baffled, all but Zeus and Poseidon, who snickered under her breath. That's was payback.

"Long story…"

**Annabeth passed. We promised to see Silena later and kept going. As we crossed the commons area, a fight broke out between the Ares and Apollo cabins. Some Apollo campers armed with firebombs flew over the Ares cabin in a chariot pulled by two pegasi. I'd never seen the chariot before, but it looked like a pretty sweet ride. Soon, the roof of the Ares cabin was burning, and naiads from the canoe lake rushed over to blow water on it.**

Ares turned and glared at Apollo.

**Then the Ares campers called down a curse, and all the Apollo kids' arrows turned to rubber. The Apollo kids kept shooting at the Ares kids, but the arrows bounced off.**

"Ares!" Apollo protested.

Ares snickered.

**Two archers ran by, chased by an angry Ares kid who was yelling in poetry: "Curse me, eh? I'll make you pay! / I don't want to rhyme all day!"**

Apollo held back a laugh.

"You cursed my cabin," Ares hissed, still looking warily at Artemis.

**Annabeth sighed. "Not that again. Last time Apollo cursed a cabin, it took a week for the rhyming couplets to wear off.**

**I shuddered. Apollo was god of poetry as well as archery, and I'd heard him recite in person. I'd almost rather yet shot by an arrow.**

"HEY!" Apollo cried. "Stop insulting me! First my cows, and now this!"

"Sorry," Percy said sheepishly


	8. Chapter 8: We Burn A Metal Shroud Part 2

**Sorry guys, the chapter is really long!**

**What are they fighting about anyway?" I asked. Annabeth ignored me while she scribbled on her inspection scroll, giving both cabins a one out of five.**

**I found myself staring at her,** **which was stupid since I'd seen her a billion times. She and I were about the same height this summer, which was a relief.**

Hera and several others tried to imagine Percy trying to kiss Annabeth, who would be taller than him, and started laughing quietly at the mental image.

**Still, she seemed so much more mature.** **It was kind of intimidating. **

"Her intelligence and maturity is intimidating?" Hestia chuckled.

**I mean, sure, she'd always been cute, but she was starting to be seriously beautiful.**

**Finally she said, "That flying chariot." **

Hades gave a small, startled laugh. "I'd forgotten what you were talking about."

**"What?" **

"Apparently, so did Percy," Hephaestus snickered.

**"You asked what they were fighting about." **

**"Oh. Oh, right." **

**"They captured it in a raid in Philadelphia last week. Some of Luke's demigods were there with that flying chariot. The Apollo cabin seized it during the battle, but the Ares cabin led the raid. So they've been fighting about who gets it ever since."**

"Ours," Apollo and Ares said automatically. They glared at each other, but were silenced at another look from Artemis.

"It's amazing how she can control you guys," Zeus snorted. Several others laughed while they both looked awkwardly embarrassed.

**We ducked as Michael Yew's chariot dive-bombed an Ares camper. The Ares camper tried to stab him and cuss him out in rhyming couplets. He was pretty creative about rhyming those cuss words.**

"**We're fighting for our lives," I said, "and they're bickering about some stupid chariot."**

"Seriously," Hephaestus muttered. You'd think the death of his son would have a larger effect on them.

"**They'll get over it," Annabeth said. "Clarisse will come to her senses." **

**I wasn't so sure. That didn't sound like the Clarisse I knew.**

**I scanned more reports and we inspected a few more cabins. Demeter got a four. **

Demeter smiled brilliantly.

**Hephaestus got a three and probably should've gotten lower, but with Beckendorf being gone and all, we cut them some slack.**

"That was nice of you," Hestia said kindly.

**Hermes got a two, which was no surprise. All campers who didn't know their godly parentage were shoved into the Hermes cabin, and since the gods were kind of forgetful, that cabin was always overcrowded.**

The Olympians (besides Hera and Artemis) exchanged guilty looks. Percy and Nico, looked down at their feet uncomfortably.

**Finally we got to Athena's cabin, which was orderly and clean as usual. Books were straightened on the shelves. The armor was polished. Battle maps and blueprints decorated the walls. Only Annabeth's bunk was messy.**

"Annabeth," Athena reprimanded, but she was smiling ruefully.

**It was covered in papers, and her silver laptop was still running. **

**"Vlacas," Annabeth muttered, which was basically calling herself an idiot in Greek. **

"Or a moron," Hermes shrugged, "But essentially, yeah."

**Her second-in-command, Malcolm, suppressed a smile. "Yeah, um… We cleaned everything else. Didn't know if it was safe to move your notes." **

"That was probably smart," Percy nodded, remembering how Annabeth was about her stuff (personal experience!)

**That was probably smart. **

"Freaky," Nico and Carter noted, at the same time. They glanced at each other.

**Annabeth had a bronze knife that she reserved just for monsters and people who messed with her stuff.**

**Malcolm grinned at me. "We'll wait outside while you finish inspection."**

Percy laughed. It was always Malcolm who walking in on them wasn't it?

**The Athena campers filed out the door while Annabeth cleaned up her bunk. I shuffled uneasily and pretended to go through some more reports. Technically, even on inspection, it was against camp rules for two campers to be… Like, alone in a cabin. That rule had come up a lot when Silena and Beckendorf started dating.**

Dionysus grinned. Less PDA at the Camp would be nice… Maybe that was another rule he would put into effect.

**And I know some of you might be thinking, aren't all demigods related on the godly side, and doesn't that make dating gross?**

"Nope," Hephaestus said.

**But the thing is, the godly side of your family doesn't count, genetically speaking, since gods don't have DNA.** **A demigod would never think about dating someone who had the same godly parent. **

"That would be strange," Hera agreed.

**Like two kids from Athena cabin? No way. But a daughter of Aphrodite and a son of Hephaestus? They're not related. So it's no problem.**

Nico smiled mischeiviously.

"Oh, you have a type now?" Percy raised an eyebrow.

"Of course," Nico shrugged, and then grinned again, mischievously, "Blonds are just really cute, you know Perce?"

"You stay away from Annabeth, Di Angelo!"

Athena smiled at the bantering group, "I don't know," she teased, "Son of Hades is sounding better than Son of Sea Spawn. Maybe I'd prefer the Boy of the Underworld date my daughter."

Nico grinned widely at Percy, looking overly proud of himself, "I got Athena's approval in two minutes, and you had to go back in time and confess your love for her daughter to get it." Everyone laughed

Percy huffed angrily, his cheeks turning pink.

**Anyway, for some strange reason I was thinking about this as I watched Annabeth straighten up.**

"For some strange reason, eh?" Hephaestus repeated sarcastically.

**She closed her laptop, which had been given to her as a gift from the inventor Daedalus last summer. I cleared my throat. "So… Get any good info from that thing?" **

**"Too much," she said. "Daedalus had so many ideas, I could spend fifty years just trying to figure them all out."**

"That's a lot," Aphrodite said, her eyes wide.

**"Yeah," I muttered. "That would be fun." **

**She shuffled her papers-mostly drawings of buildings and a bunch of handwritten notes. I knew she wanted to be an architect someday, but I'd learned the hard way not to ask what she was working on.** **She'd start talking about angles and load-bearing joints until my eyes glazed over. **

Poseidon grinned to himself. Like father like son, he supposed.

**"You know…" She brushed her hair behind her ear, like she does when she's nervous. "This whole thing with Beckendorf and Silena. It kind of makes you think. About… What's important. About losing people who are important. "**

"Hint hint," Hera rolled her eyes.

**I nodded. My brain started seizing on little random details, like the fact that she was still wearing those silver owl earrings from her dad, who was this brainiac military history professor in San Francisco.**

**"Urn, yeah," I stammered. "Like... Is everything cool with your family?" **

"Wow, Percy," Nico rolled his eyes. His friend blushed.

"I don't know what to say, okay!"

"But seriously, you just killed the mood," Thalia snickered.

**Okay, really stupid question, but hey, I was nervous.** **Annabeth looked disappointed, but she nodded. "My dad wanted to take me to Greece this summer," she said wistfully. "I've always wanted to see-" **

**"The Parthenon," I remembered. **

"Good," Hermes nodded, "Remembering what your girlfriend likes is secondary to remembering her name. And age."

"You would know," Hades guffawed.

"Shut up! It was just once!"

**She managed a smile. "Yeah." **

**"That's okay. There'll be other summers, right?" **

"Weren't you so sure you were going to die a few minutes ago?" Artemis pointed out.

**As soon as I said it, I realized it was a boneheaded comment.** **I was facing the end of my days.**

**Within a week, Olympus might fall. If the Age of the Gods really did end, **

"And it won't," Zeus glared ferociously.

**the world as we knew it would dissolve into chaos. Demigods would be hunted to extinction. There would be no more summers for us.**

"They're right," Athena mused, "You are dramatic. Though, you have reason, I suppose. This is a very serious matter.

**Annabeth stared at her inspection scroll.** **"Three out five," she muttered, "for a sloppy head counselor. Come on. Let's finish your reports and get back to Chiron." **

**On the way to the Big House, we read the last report, which was handwritten on a maple leaf from a satyr in Canada. **

"Ah, Canada," Poseidon smiled. The James Bay was incredibly clean, compared to the New York Rivers.

**If possible, the note made me feel even worse. **

**"'Dear Grover,'" I read aloud. "'Woods outside Toronto attacked by giant evil badger. **

Hades looked at the book dubiously. "A giant evil badger?"

"They're more common than you think," Hermes said mysteriously. He said in a fake whisper. "Seriously; they're everywhere."

"_Very_ funny," Hades said dryly.

**Tried to do as you suggested and summon power of Pan. No effect. Many naiads' trees destroyed. Retreating to Ottawa. Please advise. Where are you?' -Gleeson Hedge, protector."**

"Seems the satyr has definitely gone missing then," Hera attested.

"Not exactly."

**Annabeth grimaced. "You haven't heard anything from him? Even with your empathy link?" **

**I shook my head dejectedly.**

**Ever since last summer when the god Pan had died, our friend Grover had been drifting farther and farther away. **

**The Council of Cloven Elders treated him like an outcast, but Grover still traveled all over the East Coast, trying to spread the word about Pan and convince nature spirits to protect their own little bits of the wild.**

"He truly has harnessed the spirit of Pan."

**He'd only come back to camp a few times to see his girlfriend, Juniper.** **Last I'd heard he was in Central Park organizing the dryads, but nobody had seen or heard from him in two months. We'd tried to send Iris-messages. They never got through. **

**I had an empathy link with Grover, so I hoped I would know if anything bad happened to him.**

**Grover had told me one time that if he died, the empathy link might kill me too.** **But I wasn't sure if that was still true or not. **

"I suppose it depends on the nature of the death," Hephaestus put in.

**I wondered if he was still in Manhattan. Then I thought about my dream of Rachel's sketch-dark clouds closing on the city, an army gathered around the Empire State Building. "Annabeth. "**

"DON'T DO IT PERCY!" Hermes yelled.

"This is going to be bad," Ares said grimly, burying his head into his hands.

"She's gonna be so mad," Artemis added warningly.

**I stopped her by the tetherball court. I knew I was asking for trouble, but I didn't know who else to trust. Plus, I'd always depended on Annabeth for advice.**

"Cute," Aphrodite said absentmindedly. She was too busy wondering how badly Percy was going to mess this up.

**"Listen, I had this dream about, um, Rachel..." I told her the whole thing, even the weird picture of Luke as a child. For a while she didn't say anything. Then she rolled up her inspection scroll so tight she ripped it.**

"Here we go," Hestia groaned.

**"What do you want me to say?"**

"**I'm not sure. You're the best strategist I know. If you were Kronos planning this war, what would you do next?"**

Percy grimaced. Compliments were only going to distract her for so long. He could see how deep a grave he was digging himself right now.

**"I'd use Typhon as a distraction. Then I'd hit Olympus directly, while the gods were in the West."**

**"Just like in Rachel's picture." **

**"Percy, " she said, her voice tight, "Rachel is just a mortal."**

People frowned. Obviously she was important.

**"But what if her dream is true? Those other Titans-they said Olympus would be destroyed in a matter of days. They said they had plenty of other challenges. And what's with that picture of Luke as a kid-" **

"Does that mean you have to learn about his past?" Hephaestus muttered to himself, not loud enough for anyone to hear him.

**"We'll just have to be ready. "**

**"How?" I said. "Look at our camp. We can't even stop fighting each other. And I'm supposed to get my stupid soul reaped."**

Demeter frowned. "You make a good point, but you can prevent this from happening. I hope."

**She threw down her scroll. "I knew we shouldn't have shown you the prophecy." Her voice was angry and hurt. "All it did was scare you.**

"This is the equivalent of hitting you over the head with a club," Dionysus mumbled. Then, "Fifty bucks on Annabelle."

"You won't be getting fifty," Athena glared, "Because her name is _Annabeth_."

**You run away from things when you're scared. "**

"Now she's hitting below the belt," Hera said, almost impressed.

**I stared at her, completely stunned. "Me? Run away?" **

**She got right in my face. "Yes, you. You're a coward, Percy Jackson!"**

**We were nose to nose. Her eyes were red, and I suddenly realized that when she called me a coward, maybe she wasn't talking about the prophecy.**

"Maybe," Hades drawled.

**"If you don't like our chances," she said, "Maybe you should go on that vacation with Rachel." **

**"Annabeth-" **

**"If you don't like our company."**

**"That's not fair!"**

"Women aren't fair," Poseidon shrugged. All the men nodded along with him, and the women just glared.

**She pushed past me and stormed toward the strawberry fields. She hit the tetherball as she passed and sent it spinning angrily around the pole. **

**I'd like to say my day got better from there. Of course it didn't. **

"Of course," Carter repeated, sighing. A demigod's life really didn't sound fun (then again, his wasn't exactly fun either).

**That afternoon we had an assembly at the campfire to burn Beckendorf's burial shroud and say our good-byes. Even the Ares and Apollo cabins called a temporary truce to attend. **

"Wow," people marvelled.

**Beckendorf's shroud was made out of metal links, like chain mail. I didn't see how it would burn, but the Fates must've been helping out. The metal melted in the fire and turned to golden smoke, which rose into the sky. The campfire flames always reflected the campers' moods, and today they burned black.**

Everyone was painfully quiet throughout this paragraph.

**I hoped Beckendorf's spirit would end up in Elysium.**

**Maybe he'd even choose to be reborn and try for Elysium in three different lifetimes so he could reach the Isles of the Blest, which was like the Underworld's ultimate party headquarters. If anyone deserved it, Beckendorf did. **

**Annabeth left without a word to me.**

"She sure can hold a grudge," Artemis commented lightly.

"Do you agree, Nico," Percy said, smirking, "that it's bad for my dad and Athena to hold their grudges against each other?"

"Percy!" Both Athena and Poseidon looked astonished.

Nico grinned slightly, "Yes Percy," He said with mock seriousness, "It is a very bad thing. Grudges, you know, can tear people apart."

"That's different," Athena protested. A few of the other gods were laughing at the looks on the two Olympian's faces. The Egyptions were grinning. This was so amusing!

"I know," Percy said, "It's a very good thing that me and Annabeth are going to make up. We, of course, are very wise."

"Yes, but I'm not trying to date Athena," Poseidon scowled a bit.

"The thought itself is a little scary," Apollo said, trying to imagine the Goddess of Wisdom and the Lord of the Sea dating. He couldn't. Every scenario he could imagine ended with the world catching on fire and the two gods screaming at each other while they stood over the flames that engulfed Olympus. Judging by the look of horror on Zeus' face, he was imagining the same thing. Hera's face was pinched, like she was trying not to think about it. Most of the Egyption gods laughed, along with Carter and Sadie.

"Not to mention disgusting," Athena said.

"I would agree with you," Poseidon grumbled, "But I think that would just prove their point that we can actually agree on something. So I am just going to say 'No comment' and leave it at that."

The future kids grinned at each other amusedly, making a silent pact to make sure the two Olympians became friends, or at least nice to each other, by the time they had to leave the past. (It would be nice for the other Olympians if they finally shut up!)

**Most of the other campers drifted off to their afternoon activities. I just stood there staring at the dying fire. Silena sat nearby crying, while Clarisse and her boyfriend, Chris Rodriguez, tried to comfort her. Finally I got up the nerve to walk over. **

**"Hey, Silena, I'm really sorry. " She sniffled. **

"You're sweet," Aphrodite repeated again, her face sad.

**Clarisse glared at me, but she always glares at everyone. Chris would barely look at me. He'd been one of Luke's men until Clarisse rescued him from the Labyrinth last summer, and I guess he still felt guilty about it.**

**I cleared my throat. "Silena, you know Beckendorf carried your picture. He looked at it right before we went into battle. You meant a lot to him. You made the last year the best of his life." Silena sobbed. **

Percy blushed and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

**"Good work, Percy," Clarisse muttered. **

**"No, it's all right," Silena said. "Thank… Thank you, Percy. I should go. " **

**"You want company?" Clarisse asked. **

Ares grinned. His daughter was the best, no matter what the other kids said.

**Silena shook her head and ran off.**

**"She's stronger than she looks," Clarisse muttered, almost to herself. "She'll survive."**

"She might have a better chance at it if the Ares cabin was fighting," Demeter mumbled.

**"You could help with that," I suggested. "You could honor Beckendorf's memory by fighting with us."**

**Clarisse went for her knife, but it wasn't there anymore. She'd thrown it on the Ping-Pong table in the Big House.**

"My Ping-Pong table," Dionysus lamented.

**"Not my problem," she growled. "My cabin doesn't get honor, I don't fight."**

Hades frowned. He would have called her selfish, if she wasn't doing the exact same thing he had been doing.

**I noticed she wasn't speaking in rhymes. Maybe she hadn't been around when her cabin mates got cursed, or maybe she had a way of breaking the spell.**

**With a chill, I wondered if Clarisse could be Kronos's spy** **at camp.**

"I highly doubt it," Hera yawned.

**Was that why she was keeping her cabin out of the fight? But as much as I disliked Clarisse, spying for the Titans didn't** **seem like her style.**

**"All right," I told her. "I didn't want to bring this up, but you owe me one. You'd be rotting in a Cyclops's cave in the Sea of Monsters if it wasn't for me." **

"Bringing up old favors won't work in this situation," Zeus shook his head.

**She clenched her jaw. "Any other favor, Percy. Not this. The Ares cabin has been dissed too many times. And don't think I don't know what people say about me behind my back."**

**I wanted to say, well, it's true. But I bit my tongue. "So, what you're just going to let Kronos crush us?" I asked.**

"That's pleasant," Nico grimaced.

**"If you want my help so bad, tell Apollo to give us the chariot."**

**She charged me, but Chris got between us. **

**"Whoa, guys," he said. "Clarisse, you know, maybe he's got a point." **

**She sneered at him. "Not you too!" She trudged off with Chris at her heels. **

**"Hey, wait! I just meant-Clarisse, wait!" **

"Aw, now Chris is being yelled at," Hermes pouted.

**I watched the last sparks from Beckendorf's fire curl into the afternoon sky. Then I headed toward the sword-fighting arena. I needed a break, and I wanted to see an old friend.**

"Done," Athena announced. "Who's next?"


	9. Chapter 9: I Drive My Dog Into A Tree P1

**I Drive My Dog Into a Tree**

Ch. 5

**(Gah! Hello everyone! Just to let you know, there's a typo at the end of the previous chapter. It was supposed to say Sadie instead of Athena. My bad!)**

* * *

"I will," Athena said. "**I Drive My Dog Into a Tree."**

Percy smirked. He remembered this.

**Mrs. O'Leary saw me before I saw her, which was a pretty good trick considering she's the size of a garbage truck.**

"Poor Perce," Nico taunted. "Getting out-bested by something the size of a garbage truck!"

**I walked into the arena, and a wall of darkness slammed into me. "WOOF!"**

**The next thing I knew I was flat on the ground with a huge paw on my chest and an oversize Brillo-pad tongue licking my face.**

**"Ow!" I said. "Hey, girl. Good to see you too. Ow!" **

**It took a few minutes for Mrs. O'Leary to calm down and get off me. By then I was pretty much drenched in dog drool.**

**She wanted to play fetch, so I picked up a bronze shield and tossed it across the arena. By the way, Mrs. O'Leary is the world's only friendly hellhound.**

Hades nodded. The other ones would only jump on you to tear your throat out, and then perhaps bury your body.

**I kind of inherited her when her previous owner died. She lived at camp, but Beckendorf… Well, Beckendorf used to take care of her whenever I was gone. **

**He had smelted Mrs. O'Leary's favorite bronze chewing bone.** **He'd forged her collar with the little smiley face and a crossbones nametag. Next to me, Beckendorf had been her best friend.**

**Thinking about that made me sad all over again, but I threw the shield a few more times because Mrs. O'Leary insisted.**

**Soon she started barking – a sound slightly louder than artillery gun –**

"Only slightly?"

**like she needed to go for a walk. The other campers didn't think it was funny when she went to the bathroom in the arena.**

**It had caused more than one unfortunate slip-and-slide accident. So I opened the gates of the arena, and she bounded straight toward the woods. **

"Awesome!" someone yelled, and Nico and Percy grimaced.

**I jogged after her, not too concerned that she was getting ahead. Nothing in the woods could threaten Mrs. O'Leary.** **Even the dragons and giant scorpions ran away when she came close.**

"Cool!"

**When I finally tracked her down, she wasn't using the facilities. She was in a familiar clearing where the Council of Cloven Elders had once put Grover on trial.**

Zeus scowled. An unfair trial.

**The place didn't look so good. The grass had turned yellow. The three topiary thrones had lost all their leaves. **

**But that's not what surprised me. In the middle of the glade stood the weirdest trio I'd ever seen: Juniper the tree nymph, Nico di Angelo, and a very old, very fat satyr.**

"I'm not weird!" Nico shouted, people snorted.

"Yes you are!"

**Nico was the only one who didn't seem freaked out by Mrs. O'Leary's appearance.**

**He looked pretty much like I'd seen him in my dream-an aviator's jacket, black jeans, and a T-shirt with dancing skeletons on it, like one of those Day of the Dead pictures.**

"Nice shirt," Sadie grinned.

**His Stygian iron sword hung at his side. He was only twelve, but he looked much older and sadder.**

Hades grimaced. He didn't want his son to look old and sad. He just wanted him to have a happy life.

**He nodded when he saw me, and then went back to scratching Mrs. O'Leary's ears.** **She sniffed his legs like he was the most interesting thing since rib-eye steaks. **

"Understandable," Poseidon nodded.

**Being the son of Hades, he'd probably been traveling in all sorts of hellhound-friendly places. **

**The old satyr didn't look nearly so happy.**

"Of course not," Hephaestus sighed.

**"Will someone-what is this underworld creature doing in my forest!" He waved his arms and trotted on his hooves as if the grass were hot. "You there, Percy Jackson! Is this your beast?"**

"She's a dog," Hestia glared, "Not a beast."

**"Sorry, Leneus," I said. "That's your name, right?" **

"Ah," Zeus muttered. "Leneus. Great."

**The satyr rolled his eyes. His fur was dust-bunny gray, and a spider web grew between his horns. **

Athena made a face. That was so unsanitary.

**His belly would've made him an invincible bumper car.**

**"Well, of course I'm Leneus. Don't tell me you've forgotten a member of the Council so quickly.**

"Yes," the the demigods and gods grumbled at the same time.

**Now, call off your beast!" **

**"WOOF!" Mrs. O'Leary said happily. **

**The old satyr gulped. "Make it go away! **

"No, get him!" one of the Greek gods shouted.

**Juniper, I will not help you under these circumstances!"**

**Juniper turned toward me.** **She was pretty in a dryad-y way, with her purple gossamer dress and her elfish face, but her eyes were green-** **Tinted with chlorophyll from crying.**

"This is about Grover, then," Poseidon guessed.

**"Percy," she sniffled. "I was just asking about Grover. I **_**know**_ **something happened. He wouldn't stay gone this long if he wasn't in trouble. I was hoping that Leneus-" **

"He's not going to be happy," Hades snorted.

**"I told you!" the satyr protested. "You are better off without that traitor."**

**Juniper stamped her foot." He is not a traitor! He's the bravest satyr ever, and I want to know where he is!"**

_**"WOOF!"**_

**Leneus's knees started knocking. "I ...I won't answer questions with this hellhound sniffing my tail!" **

"Poor guy," Hermes chuckled evilly.

**Nico looked like he was trying to not crack up. **

He was making no such restrictions now.

**"I'll walk the dog," he volunteered.** **He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary bounded after him to the far end of the grove.**

**Leneus huffed indignantly and brushed the twigs off his shirt. "Now, as I was trying to explain, young lady, your boyfriend has not sent **_**any **_**reports since we voted him into exile."**

"Number one," Aphrodite huffed, "You didn't vote him into exile. Number two, I highly doubt he would be sending reports to the people who even attempted to do such a thing."

**"You **_**tried **_**to vote him into exile," I corrected. "Chiron and Dionysus stopped you."**

"And we are forever grateful for that," Demeter assured.

**"Bah! They are **_**honorary **_**Council members. It wasn't a proper vote."**

"Excuse me!" Dionysus' voice hit a higher pitch than anyone thought possible.

**"I'll tell Dionysus you said that." **

"You should," Dionysus grumbled angrily.

**Leneus paled. "I only meant ...Now see here, Jackson. This is none of your business."**

"Is he serious?" Artemis snorted.

**"Grover's my friend," I said. "He wasn't lying to you about Pan' death. I saw it my self. You were just too scared to accept the truth." **

"If he didn't believe Grover, I don't think he'll be inclined to believe you," Apollo said glumly.

**Leneus's lips quivered.** **"No! Grover's a liar and good riddance. We're better off without him."**

"Be quiet you old goat," Athena glared, she'd had enough with this stupid satyr. He was one of those people who thought they were the only one who was right, and everyone else was wrong, regardless.

**I pointed at the withered thrones. "If things are going so well, where are your friends? Looks like your Council hasn't been meeting lately."**

"Hit him where it hurts," Hestia said firmly, "Obviously his council is important to him."

**"Maron and Silenus ...I ...I'm sure they'll be back," he said, but I could hear the panic in his voice. "They're just taking some time off to think. It's been a very unsettling year.**

**"It's going to get a lot more unsettling," I promised. "Leneus, we **_**need **_**Grover. There's got to be a way you can find him with your magic."**

**The old satyr's eye twitched. "I'm telling you, I've heard nothing. Perhaps he's dead."**

**Juniper choked back a sob. "He's not dead, "I said. "I can feel that much."**

**"Empathy links," Leneus said disdainfully. "Very unreliable."**

"Much more reliable than a bunch of other things though," Zeus grimaced, "Just dangerous."

**"So ask around," I insisted. "Find him. There's a war coming. Grover was preparing the nature spirits."**

**"Without my permission! And it's not **_**our **_**war."**

"Because Grover needed their permission," Hermes scoffed.

"Hit him where it hurts," Apollo repeated Hestia's earlier words, but meant it in the more literal way this time.

**I grabbed him by the shirt, which seriously wasn't like me, but the _stupid_ old goat was making me mad.**

Nico laughed. A few of the gods grinned and laughed. Poseidon snickered. Even Zeus tried to look severe, but he ended up hiding a smile. He couldn't deny the satyr deserved it. (And he did!)

**"Listen, Leneus. When Kronos attacks, he's going to have **_**packs **_**of hellhounds. He's going to destroy everything in his path-mortals, gods, demigods. Do you think he'll let the satyrs go free?**

"No," Athena paused her reading and shook her head, "He might even go for them first, trying to pick off the ones he thinks will be less of a threat, and less informed."

**You're supposed to be a leader. So LEAD. Get out there and see what's happening. Find Grover and bring Juniper some news. Now, GO!"**

"That was awesome," Apollo grinned.

"You should beat sense into people more often," Ares snickered.

**I didn't push him very hard, but he was kind of top-heavy.**

Artemis gagged.

**He fell on his furry rump, then scrambled to his hooves and ran away with his belly jiggling. "Grover will never be accepted! He will die an outcast!"**

"No he won't," Aphrodite said adamantly.

**When he'd disappeared into the bushes, Juniper wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry, Percy. I didn't mean to get you involved. Leneus is still a lord of the Wild. You don't want to make an enemy of him."**

**"No problem," I said. "I've got worse enemies than overweight satyrs."**

**Nico walked back to us. "Good job, Percy. Judging from the trail of goat pellets, I'd say you shook him up pretty well."**

Everybody snickered.

**I was afraid I knew why Nico was here, but I tried for a smile.**

**"Welcome back. Did you come by just to see Juniper?" **

**He blushed. "Um, no. That was an accident.** **I kind of… dropped into the middle of their conversation."**

Hades glanced at his son. _Oh yes, he's definitely discovered shadow travel. _He imagined him popping into their conversation right out of nowhere, and laughed quietly to himself.

**"He scared us to death!" Juniper said. "Right out of the shadows. But, Nico, you **_**are **_**the son of Hades and all. Are you sure you haven't heard anything about Grover?"**

Hestia sighed, "You wouldn't be able to tell, would you?"

"No," Nico and Hades replied**.**

**Nico shifted his weight. "Juniper, like I tried to tell you ...even if Grover died, he would reincarnate into something else in nature. I can't sense things like that, only mortal souls."**

**"But if you **_**do **_**hear anything?" she pleaded, putting her hand on his arm. "Anything at all?"**

"That poor dryad," Demeter continued, "Her boyfriend just disappears, and then she has to deal with Leneus? I feel bad for her."

**Nico's cheeks got even brighter red. "Uh, you bet. I'll keep my ears open."**

Percy and several others snickered.

"Shut up..." Nico grumbled.

**"We'll find him, Juniper," I promised. "Grover's alive, I'm sure. There must be a simple reason why he hasn't contacted us." **

**She nodded glumly. "I hate not being able to leave the forest. He could be anywhere, and I'm stuck here waiting.** **Oh, if that silly goat has gotten himself hurt-"**

**Mrs. O'Leary bounded back over and took an interest in Juniper's dress. Juniper yelped. "Oh, no you don't! I know about dogs and trees. I'm gone!"**

"That would be a smart idea," Hephaestus said wryly.

**She went **_**poof **_**into green mist. Mrs. O'Leary looked disappointed, but she lumbered off to find another target, leaving Nico and me alone.**

**Nico tapped his sword on the ground. A tiny mound of animal bone erupted from the dirt. They knit themselves together into a skeletal field mouse and scampered off. **

"That was… random," Artemis said, puzzled.

"Cool though," Ares muttered.

**"I was sorry to hear about Beckendorf."**

**A lump formed in my throat. "How did you-"**

**"I talked to his ghost."**

**"Oh... right." I'd never get used to the fact that this twelve-year-old kid spent more time talking with the dead than the living. "Did he say anything?"**

**"He doesn't blame you. He figured you'd be beating yourself up, and he said you shouldn't." **

**"Is he going to try for rebirth?"**

**Nico shook his head. "He's staying in Elysium. Said he's waiting for someone. **

"Silena," Zeus realized for them.

**Not sure what he meant, but he seems okay with death."**

"That's… good," Hephaestus tried, looking troubled.

"I hope you don't mind," Aphrodite smiled weakly at Hephaestus, "If I hope that Silena doesn't join him for a while."

"No, that's alright," Hephaestus said quickly. "I know you don't want your daughter to… well, join him. It's okay."

**It wasn't much comfort, but it was something.**

**"I had a vision you were on Mount Tam," I told Nico. "Was that-"**

**"Real," he said. "I didn't mean to be spying on the Titans, but I was in the neighborhood."**

"I can't believe they didn't catch you," Ares wondered, "It was almost a miracle. You were _right_ there."

**"Doing what?"**

**Nico tugged at his sword belt. "Following a lead on... you know, my family."**

Nico flinched. Hades stared at the ceiling until Athena kept reading.

**I nodded. I knew his past was a painful subject. Until two years ago, he and his sister Bianca had been frozen in time at a place called the Lotus Hotel and Casino.**

Nico groaned quietly. Did he had to hear this again?

**They'd been there for like seventy years. Eventually a mysterious lawyer rescued them and checked them into a boarding school, but Nico had no memories of his life before the casino.** **He didn't know anything about his mother.**

Hades cringed.

* * *

**Next part will be posted really soon. This chapter is really long!**


	10. Chapter 10: I Drive My Dog Pt2

**He didn't know who the lawyer was, or why they'd been frozen in time or allowed to go free. After Bianca died and left Nico alone, he'd been obsessed with finding answers.**

**"So how did it go?" I asked. "Any luck?"**

**"No," he murmured. "But I may have a new lead soon."**

**"What's the lead?"**

**Nico chewed his lip. "That's not important right now. You know why I'm here."**

**A feeling of dread started to build in my chest. Ever since Nico first proposed his plan for beating Kronos last summer, I'd had nightmares about it.**

Poseidon frowned. If this was dangerous, he did not want Percy doing it. Definitely not. _Absolutely_ not.

**He would show up occasionally and press me for an answer, but I kept putting him off. **

**"Nico, I don't know," I said. "It seems pretty extreme."**

Poseidon's frown deepened. If Percy was unsure about it, then it was definitely something bad for his health. His and Percy's.

**"You've got Typhon coming in, what ...a week? Most of the other Titans are unleashed now and on Kronos' side. Maybe it's time to think extreme." **

**I looked back toward the camp.** **Even from this distance I could hear the Ares and Apollo campers fighting again, yelling curses and spouting bad poetry.**

Ares scowled at Apollo, who smirked.

**"They're no match for the Titan army," Nico said.**

Artemis nodded slowly. It was true, that part. They would obviously need outside help if they wanted to accomplish this.

**"You know that. This comes down to you and Luke. And there's only one way you can beat Luke." **

Athena shook her head slowly. There were multiple ways, of course. There was always a choice. Evidently they were only thinking of the most obvious one. And, it seemed, the most dangerous one.

**I remembered the fight on the **_**Princess Andromeda. **_**I'd been hopelessly outmatched. Kronos had almost killed me with a single cut to my arm, and I couldn't even wound him.** **Riptide had glanced right off his skin. **

"That is particularly problematic," Zeus agreed. "Especially if you really are destined to fight each other. He'll kill you within a minute."

"Thank you," Poseidon grimaced, "Thank you for that."

"Just seeing things realistically."

"You're an ass."

"Thank you. Thank you for that." Zeus smirked.

Hera rolled her eyes at the two of them.

**"We can give you the same power," Nico urged. "You heard the Great Prophecy. Unless you want to have your soul reaped by a cursed blade..."**

**I wondered how Nico had heard the prophecy – probably from some ghost.**

**"You can't prevent a prophecy," I said.**

**"But you can fight it." Nico had a strange, hungry light in his eyes.** **"You can become invincible."**

Nico frowned, disturbed. "I sound like a maniac."

"You are a maniac."

"No, seriously Perce, I sound out of my mind!"

**"Maybe we should wait. Try to fight without-"**

**"No!" Nico snarled. "It has to be now!"**

**I stared at him. I hadn't seen his temper flare like that in a long time.**

**"Um, you sure you're okay?"**

**He took a deep breath. "Percy, all I mean ...when the fighting starts, we won't be able to make the journey. This is our last chance. I'm sorry if I'm being too pushy, but two years ago my sister gave her life to protect you. I want you to honor that. Do whatever it take to stay alive and defeat Kronos."**

Nico frowned.

**I didn't like the idea. Then I thought about Annabeth calling me a coward, and I got angry.**

"Seems that it was Annabeth who pressured you in the end," Dionysus mused.

**Nico had a point. If Kronos attacked New York, the campers would be no match for his forces. I had to do something. Nico's way was dangerous-maybe even deadly. But it might give me a fighting edge.**

Hermes sighed. He had a feeling that they wouldn't know what the idea actually was for a while.

**"All right," I decided. "What do we do first?"**

**His cold creepy smile made me sorry I'd agreed. "First we'll need to retrace Luke's steps. We need to know more about his past, his childhood."**

"What!" Hermes burst out. He had a terrible feeling he knew what they were going to do.

The Egyption gods were curious now. They wondered what they were going to do.

**I shuddered, thinking about Rachel's picture from my dream – a smiling nine-year-old Luke. "Why do we need to know about that?"**

"It's always good to know more about your enemies," Athena murmured, pausing again, under her breath, not wanting to upset Hermes. At least, more than he already was.

**"I'll explain when we get there," Nico said. "I've already tracked down his mother. She lives in Connecticut."**

"No," Hermes murmured, shaking his head in denial, "No no no no no…"

The God's glanced at each other. Hermes hadn't told them yet, about whatever it was that had happened to his girlfriend. They knew that Apollo had a small idea of what had happened, but nobody else knew. All they'd been told, by a miserable Hermes, was that May had been in an accident. A bad one.

**I stared at him. I'd never thought much about Luke's mortal parent. I'd met his dad, Hermes, but his mom...**

**"Luke ran away when he was really young," I said. "I didn't think his mom was alive." **

Apollo squeezed his brother's hand. Hermes was shuddering _I've always wondered what happened to May, but now… I don't think I want to know._

**"Oh, she's alive." The way he said it made me wonder what was wrong with her. What kind of horrible person could she be?**

Hermes gritted his teeth. "She's not horrible. She's amazing. Beautiful."

**"Okay... "I said. "So how do we get to Connecticut? I can call Blackjack-"**

**"No." Nico scowled. "Pegasi don't like me and the feeling is mutual. **

"Though, I might let up on that, just for Blackjack," Nico tried to chuckle. The Pegasus' thoughts and personality were so nice and funny that he was sure that MAYBE he could get along with him.

**But there's no need for flying." He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary came loping out of the woods.**

**"Your friend here can help." Nico patted her head.** **"You haven't tried shadow travel yet?"**

**"Shadow travel?"**

**Nico whispered in Mrs. O'Leary's ear. She tilted her head, suddenly alert.**

"Is that all that it takes?" Zeus asked, "Just to tell them what to do."

"Yes," Hades nodded, "Knowing how to do it is hardwired into their brains."

**"Hop on board," Nico told me.**

**I'd never considered riding a dog before, but Mrs. O'Leary was certainly big enough. I climbed onto her back and held her collar.**

"So she can carry things with her," Athena pondered, "That means that, in a war, should we be able to get any of the hellhounds to befriend us, they can help us carry things to other places, obviously better at night. That would give us both a strategic advantage and…" She trailed off, muttering plans and tactics to herself, then continued reading.

"Take into account that they get very tired, so they can do it often," Nico warned.

**"This will make her very tired," Nico warned, "so you can't do it often. And it works best at night. But all shadows are part of the same substance. There is only one darkness, and creatures of the Underworld can use it as a road, or a door."**

**"I don't understand," I said.**

"I still don't quite get it myself," Zeus grumbled under his breath.

**"No," Nico said. "It took me a long time to learn. But Mrs. O'Leary knows. Tell her where to go. Tell her Westport, the home of May Castellan."**

**"You're not coming?"**

**"Don't worry," he said. "I'll meet you there."**

**I was a little nervous, but I leaned down to Mrs. O'Leary's ear.**

"It's awesome!" Percy stated.

**"Okay, girl. Uh, can you take me to Westport, Connecticut? May Castellan's place?"**

**Mrs. O'Leary sniffed the air. She looked into the gloom of the forest. Then she bounded forward, straight into an oak tree.**

"That should shock you," Ares commented, amused.

**Just before we hit, we passed into shadows as cold as the dark side of the moon.**

Percy grinned.

"Done," Athena announced. "Who'd like to read the next chapter?"


	11. VERY Important

**Hey everyone. I'm so sorry that I haven't been updating. I've been in the hospital sick, until now (Finally got out!). I have tons of homework I need to finish (from missing school!), but when I do, I promise I'll get that next chapter up!**

**~Shape-shifter**


End file.
